I do not know if you were watching yesterday's proceedings in the British Parliament, a Cheann Comhairle, but the Speaker of the Parliament almost singlehandedly brought sterling down by 0.5%. I look forward to the day your intervention will have a similar impact.

I look forward to the day when my intervention will get people to stick to the time.

You need a mace, a Cheann Comhairle.

Touché. The plans for the new maternity hospital were announced more than two years ago by the Government with great fanfare. The announcement was a long time coming and was warmly welcomed by all, because the Holles Street facility is simply not fit for purpose in any shape or form, given the high volume of births per annum. In certain cases, women with acute and complex births have to be transferred to St. Vincent's University Hospital. It seems to me that since the announcement there has been nothing but controversy and little progress on the site itself. The need is great in terms of the safety and well-being of women. I cannot understand why we are at the 11th hour on the corporate governance issues concerning the hospital, which seem to be impeding the rapid acceleration of the project itself, notwithstanding the Mulvey report. I would appreciate if the Taoiseach could indicate to the House that the project is on track as it is a key part of the programme for Government, that it will get the allocation it needs to proceed and also that he is satisfied with the governance arrangements that have now been identified.

The project is on track and has planning permission. It is ready to go to the initial works, which is the enabling works around the car park and the pharmacy. It is a significant investment, in the region of €300 million to €400 million, to build a state-of-the-art co-located maternity hospital on the campus of St. Vincent's University Hospital, which will be followed in turn with the Coombe moving to St. James's Hospital and the Rotunda moving to Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown. Given that it is such an important project and that the hospital will be with us for 100 years, if not more, it is important to get its ownership and governance right. The Minister is still engaging both with Holles Street and St. Vincent's University Hospital to get that right but we are confident that we can get there.

Two years have passed.