In the overall scale of public expenditure - and the national development plan has been a very significant initiative by the Government - I am somewhat surprised at the Deputy's concentrating on, relatively speaking, areas that were covered last year in terms of spendings that should not have happened, specifically the OPW expenditure on a bike shed. I do recall, however, that it was Members of the Opposition who sought the bike shed.
Sentiment score: 0.20
There were lots of representations from all of them.
Sentiment score: 0.00
You guys wanted a bike shed.
Sentiment score: 0.00
I did not want any bike shed.
Sentiment score: -0.06
A lot of working people, by the way, a lot of public servants, a lot of workers do want facilities in terms of-----
Sentiment score: 0.08
-----cycling to work or active travel. We are not responsible for the detailed-----
Sentiment score: 0.08
Sorry?
Sentiment score: -0.08
I know, but there are so many leaders emerging in Sinn Féin these days-----
Sentiment score: 0.00
Obviously, the presidential announcement that was meant to be never happened, so they should all just take it easy and stand back. Deputy McDonald is here for quite some time yet, it seems, as leader of the party. As regards the issue of the detailed planning for a new national maternity hospital, which will involve a very significant sum of money, I will not decide every single item of that. If the National Transport Authority is allocating money to Holles Street or to the maternity hospital in respect of active travel, that is an issue for the National Transport Authority. Members cannot be coming in here some days saying, "There is not enough money for active travel, there is not enough money for cycling, there is not enough money for that", and then come in the other day around the scrum and say, "Well, actually, there should not be a bike shed here or a bike shed there."
Sentiment score: 0.45
I am of the view that if particular facilities are being provided for workers, in particular, or for people visiting any public institution, for that matter, value for money should apply and they should not cost outrageous sums. It should be done modestly, and very simple structures should be put in place. It should not have to cost €100,000 to provide a bike shed. Again, I am not into the detail of a bike shed at a national maternity hospital. I do want it built. A lot of messing went on here for a couple of years about getting that project off the ground, and delay cost us far more than any bike shed will cost us in respect of that maternity hospital. There was an inordinate delay in getting that project off the ground, but some Members preferred to spend time talking about theocracy and the Vatican and everything else rather than the project getting the green light much earlier and getting it through. They will never have any public accounts committee assessment of that or the delays that can occur in this House or the delays that can occur by politicians objecting to this, that and the other. They will never do any value-for-money assessment of that; they will just go for a cheap headline. So it is time for the bike shed again, and Deputy McDonald arrives in with a contribution on a bike shed. This time it is €100,000; last year it was €300,000. It was too much last year. Go talk to the unions who fund some of you.
Sentiment score: 0.06
No, no.
Sentiment score: -0.53
Workers want facilities. These facilities are not for anybody in here, except the Opposition TDs who did want the bike shed last year.
Sentiment score: 0.08
They wanted a second one as well. They wanted two bike sheds for here. They wrote to the Ceann Comhairle for a bike shed-----
Sentiment score: 0.09
-----and did not come in condemning the costs. I presume the one in the maternity hospital is for workers to facilitate them if they cycle to work. We need to be careful too. Are we saying workers should not have facilities in an active travel context to reduce traffic congestion and allow people to cycle to work?
Sentiment score: 0.18
I can understand the Minister of State, Deputy Moran's annoyance because the bottom line is the Deputy's assertion-----
Sentiment score: -0.32
She talked to me about being a smart alec. Her assertions today were bogus, flawed and not serious. No one is taking that kind of nonsense seriously. She should take heed of what the Minister of State said. Read the e-tender. Yes, we have spent billions of euro on infrastructure. A lot of the projects we spent on have come in on target. Many schools such as Edmund Rice College, Dublin, Gaelscoil Sheoirse Clancy, Limerick, Patrician Academy, Mallow, were all on budget, as was Walter Scott House, Forensic Science Ireland's facility. I could go on about the various road projects such as the Moycullen bypass and the Dunkettle interchange - a fantastic engineering project - which came in on budget and on time. These are serious projects.
Sentiment score: 0.06
I have answered the question. Go and read the e-tender.
Sentiment score: 0.00
With the greatest of respect-----
Sentiment score: 0.64
What I would say to Pearse is: would you go away and design a bike shed for us and give us the costs? We will take it away and see what we do.
Sentiment score: 0.00
For God's sake, cop yourself on.
Sentiment score: 0.00
I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very serious issue that demands a very profound and comprehensive response. I again express my deepest sympathies to Gillian Sherratt and Stephen Morrison on the very sad passing of their son Harvey. We have to do much better when it comes to healthcare services for our children. I understand the anger and frustrations felt by parents and the children and young people who are either awaiting surgery or are engaged with clinicians and hospitals in respect of their individual cases. The Tánaiste and the Minister for Health met with Gillian Sherratt and Stephen Morrison yesterday. There were advocates there also. A substantive, empathetic discussion ensued and it was agreed there would be a partnership approach to developing proposals in relation to the structure of an inquiry into spina bifida and scoliosis services at CHI and that a follow-up meeting would happen in three weeks. The Minister wants to reflect and discuss further with the parents on the precise nature of the inquiry. It is important that we give this thought and think it through to get the most effective inquiry. Obviously, we need an inquiry that is transparent and public, can enable us to get to the truth and also can get us to a better situation post inquiry for services for children right now and into the future. I have supported the decision by the Minister to bring CHI under the HSE. In fact, I would be a strong advocate for that. In earlier exchanges in the Dáil over the past number of months, I have been signalling that the Minister was heading in that direction. It makes absolute sense to me. The original decision was based on three hospitals being brought together under one umbrella but, historically, health has been too institution-centred as opposed to being patient-centred. The move to bring CHI under the HSE is a welcome move to make it more child-centred in this respect, and patient-centred. That is important in my view. One of the reasons CHI was established was the sort of institutional focus - dare I say egos and so on? - that was there. We had the same thing with Holles Street and the maternity hospital. It was the same situation, with things taking too long and the institutions being at the centre instead of what is optimal for the patient, the children and the families. That is where we want to be. Progress is being made in terms of spinal services. That needs to be said, but it is not enough.
Sentiment score: 0.21
We need more capacity, both in human resources and physical capacity in terms of ring-fenced surgery and so forth, to enable us to make even further inroads into the waiting lists.
Sentiment score: 0.00
At that stage there would have been newer members on the board. This is important. It is very easy. This is a challenge. The Government has a responsibility to maintain existing services. In the interim, you just cannot announce new initiatives off the top of your head. I signalled very early on the move that has transpired in respect of CHI coming in under the remit of the HSE. In fact, originally - I might have been in opposition at the time - my view was that it should have come under the HSE from day one. To be fair, these are big organisational changes. They are not going to happen overnight because there is a transition process and a lot of work. You have to bring teams with you, and so on. Clearly, we have had more reports since and we have more reports to come. The Nayagam report on governance has still to come, which should feed into any inquiry that emerges. That work can be useful to any inquiry team. We must bring clinicians along. Operations and surgeries will have to continue while an inquiry is under way.
Sentiment score: 0.16
That may potentially create challenges as well.
Sentiment score: 0.54