On the national children's hospital, while we all await the full explanation of how the overrun occurred and what is involved, to which the Minister for Health has given a commitment, it is sad to see the scaremongering about other projects that has happened in the past few days. For example, at University Hospital Limerick we await 60 modular beds. Two members of the Labour Party were quoted in the Limerick Leader yesterday saying the project had not been signed off and was not going to happen, which is untrue because the capital plan has not been finally approved. The Minister for Health yesterday and again today has given an assurance about the 60 modular beds because there has been a lot of scaremongering.

That is only if he is still there.

Many people have contacted my office about the overcrowding at the hospital-----

I call those Senators seated on the backbenches to order.

-----and query why these beds are not going ahead.

Please, Senator Leyden. The Senator has made his contribution.

One Labour Party member and a former Deputy was quoted as saying it was due to the overrun at the national children's hospital.

Senator Leyden is speaking out of turn and the mics are picking him up.

We cannot have scaremongering because it alarms people. The 60 modular beds are going ahead; I believe they are.

In terms of the overrun at the national children's hospital, we are all talking about the price and the whole lot, but the fact of the matter is that we need the hospital. As many as 450 children will be facilitated at the hospital. There is an overrun and, yes, we need to see the facts, but the message needs to be conveyed that the project is at long last going ahead, particularly as it has been spoken about since the 1960s.