Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Freedom must be given to a board. There may be circumstances where a development is required and it is essential that it is separated out from the hospital unit. It must be remembered that it cannot be done without the Minister's consent. It is not an unusual situation in the case of a large organisation providing a service such as this as there sometimes needs to be a separation of functions. I do not believe there is a need for this amendment to be pushed because the section clearly sets out the need for it to be done with the prior consent of the Department and the Minister. This has been drafted to give room for developments that are required in the course of the provision of services.