Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I understand the Senator's total frustration, given that he has been talking about this project for ten years. That is the bad news. The good news is that the project has overcome its most recent hurdle. We are now at the tender and construction stages. I will come back to the Senator with a more detailed response from the Minister, Deputy McHugh, on behalf of whom I am taking this debate. I sympathise with the Senator's point because of my experience with the cystic fibrosis unit at Beaumont Hospital. I thought it was bad when it took three years to get through the different processes in that case. I am taken aback to hear today about a ten-year wait. I believe there have been major planning problems in the case the Senator is raising. I know from my own experience that after a project proceeds to the tender and construction stages, it generally takes six months to a year. That is what I would think. I would prefer to come back to the Senator with a proper detailed answer from the Minister, Deputy McHugh.