Children's hospital questions continued
Members kept arguing for time to question the Government about the hospital's escalating costs and accountability. The Ceann Comhairle repeatedly tried to move the House on, and the Business Committee was eventually agreed to meet immediately after the Order of Business.
Sinn Féin is the best friend Brexiteers have ever had.
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Jacob Rees-Mogg will be supporting Sinn Féin.
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On the need for further information, the Taoiseach is correct that the Minister, Deputy Harris, answered questions on the matter for nine hours in the House. However, he failed to acknowledge that at no time did the Minister mention that he was aware of a potential overrun of €391 million as long ago as last August.
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I ask to be allowed to finish this point. It is because of the drip feed of information that we need further questions answered. This morning, we received the minutes of the development board. We have yet to receive minutes for five sub-committees, but those of the development board clearly show that in June the board knew of overruns. The Minister reappointed the entire board-----
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-----without asking a single question regarding whether the project was on course to be delivered on budget.
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That shows that the Minister is out of his depth.
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Rather than running from the Chamber, the Minister should be here to answer questions from those who are holding this Government accountable. We will not be told by the Taoiseach what questions we may or may not ask.
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The Deputy is going to burst a blood vessel. He needs to stop shouting.
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He is the angriest man in Ireland. There is no need to shout.
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It is possible to be angry without shouting.
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I am very anxious to move on to questions. We have spent ten minutes discussing the Order of Business.
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What is ridiculous? An overrun of €450 million is ridiculous.
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When I was the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, I was charged with minding public money during the worst of times. However, the Government seems to have abandoned any notion of-----
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Nurses were not paid properly in Deputy Howlin's day.
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-----getting value for taxpayers' money. I wish to ask several questions on this matter and there needs to be a process to facilitate that. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform should also be available to answer questions on the matter because it is not credible that his Department was unaware of this incredible escalation in costs.
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Does the House agree that there will be a meeting of the Business Committee immediately after the Order of Business to address the issues that Deputies have raised? Agreed. Is the business for today agreed? Agreed. Is the business for Wednesday agreed? Agreed. Is the business for Thursday agreed? Agreed.