Pearse Doherty
Donegal · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“I move amendment No. 1 to Seanad recommendation No. 2: To delete from the row dated "1 September 2026" down to and including the row dated "1 May 2030" and substitute the following: " 15 July 2026 €502.88 €502.88 €371.85 €371.85 €371.85 €0.00 €210.45 €172.14 €167.25 €79.17 €11.48 14 October 2026 €502.88 €502.88 €371.85 €371.85 €371.85 €0.…”
“Next week, this House will rise, the doors of Leinster House will be locked and Ministers will head off on their summer holidays. Their parting gift to ordinary Irish people across the State will be to have locked in fuel price increases that will hit them in their pockets.”
“That is not acceptable and it is why we in Sinn Féin have tabled this amendment to say that these price increases should not be going ahead and that prices should be properly monitored at the appropriate time.”
“This is tied to the latter amendment and I will speak further at length on that. Recommendation No. 1 deals with the diesel rebate scheme, which operates within a window that closes on 1 October.”
“Hope is what we rely on when we have no control. It is not a substitute for prudent economic planning. There is zero certainty here. There are no guarantees that the Strait of Hormuz will remain open or that global supply lines will not be choked tomorrow morning.”
“As if that were not good enough, the Government is not just hitting people with increases on petrol and diesel. On top of that, it is going to hit them with an increase in the cost of home heating oil, natural gas and a basic bag of coal.”
The complete record
Every one of 1,554 lines we hold for Pearse Doherty, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 25 of 32.
“On the Tánaiste’s watch, the Irish Air Corps traffic control at Baldonnel is moving to five days per week. It does not have the personnel to provide full seven-day cover. The air traffic controllers based there manage military, helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft. They also manage Garda aircraft. Garda leadership is now looking for alternatives because responding to crime, as the Tánaiste knows, is not a five-day-a-week job. There are concerns these cutbacks will lead to a loss in essential support for the Coast Guard. If more personnel are lost, operations could be wound up completely. While the Tánaiste has been out drumming up headlines about fighter jets, the most basic needs of our Defence Forces, and of a functioning state, have been completely neglected.”
“What does he say about the fact 3,000 social and affordable homes will not be delivered, as they should be delivered and as people want to deliver them, because of the delays and red tape in the Department?”
“To add insult to injury, we have a person from an approved housing body, the largest in the State, taking to the national airwaves saying that 3,000 social and affordable houses will not be delivered as a result of red tape, bureaucracy and delays by the Minister and his Department.”
“It is time to get real. The ESRI, the Central Bank, the Secretary General of the Department of the environment, Uisce Éireann and the approved housing bodies - the list goes on and on - all say the Government is failing on the basic issues. As Deputy Ó Broin has rightly pointed out, Uisce Éireann has been looking for money for a year and a half. Across all of our constituencies, projects cannot go ahead because of lack of investment. It is happening in Gweedore and it is happening in Dublin city centre. That is the reality. After more than a decade of the Tánaiste being a Minister and of Fine Gael being in government for nearly a decade and a half, we have serious issues with water and electricity that are putting the most basic right, namely to a roof over one's head, in jeopardy.”
“Uisce Éireann, the Secretary General of the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, and the largest AHB are all telling us of the Government's failure to plan and the fact that the Department of housing is stalling and has now put at risk thousands of social and affordable houses. Does the Tánaiste accept what the Central Bank and ESRI have said, that the Government is going to miss its targets for housing this year? If so, what is the Government really going to deliver this year? Does the Tánaiste accept that 3,000 fewer social and affordable homes will be delivered because of delays in the Department of housing? What is the Government going to do about the water and electricity supply that is so vitally needed?”
“Their failure to get the basic rights, to future proof infrastructure development is coming home to roost and it is impacting hardest on housing delivery. A few weeks ago the Tánaiste made a TikTok video. In it he said that we have a housing emergency and that he wanted the Government to start acting like it. That raised some eyebrows. He has been a Minister for 11 years and his party has been in government for 14 years and yet he is doing TikTok videos saying that the Government should act like there is a housing emergency. It has been put on the record over and over again.”
“What we are talking about here, in simple terms, is the inability of the Government to ensure the very basics - water and electricity connections for houses. These are some of the most basic needs in any society and people are scratching their heads because this State has record surpluses. Money is not the problem so the problem must be the incompetence and bad decisions made over and over again by the Government. This is a Government that cannot plan or get the job done when it comes to critical infrastructure and this is strangling housing delivery. For the life of me I cannot fathom how the Government can say - and I am sure the Tánaiste will say it again with a straight face - that it has turned a corner on housing. The truth is that it is going around in circles. All Government members are going around in circles on this issue.”
“This is due to significant delays in delivering major water supply projects in the capital and the Government's failure to invest properly in our creaking water network. The inability to guarantee a water connection is jeopardising the delivery of thousands of new homes. Then we had the Secretary General of the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications issuing another stark warning that housing delivery is at risk because of electricity supply shortages. Data centres are soaking up electricity put in place for future housing and this problem goes right back to the failure of the Government to build capacity in the grid and to modernise the network to meet the challenges of today.”
“Roll on to Tuesday and on RTÉ's "Prime Time", the Irish Council for Social Housing and the State's largest approved housing body, AHB, Clúid, confirmed that thousands of much-needed social and affordable housing projects have been delayed because of Government red tape and bureaucracy. They say this means that 3,000 fewer social and affordable homes will be delivered. For months, the Minister, Deputy James Browne, denied that this was a problem but he has now been found out. If all that was not enough, we come to today and two senior civil servants have sounded the alarm over serious infrastructure deficits impacting disastrously on housing delivery. First, the chief executive of Uisce Éireann has told the housing Minister that all households in Dublin face water shortages in the next five years.”
“Éireoidh teipeanna tithíochta an Rialtais níos measa mar níl sé in ann infreastruchtúr bunúsach a phleanáil agus a bhainistiú i gceart. Tá fadhbanna ann inár ngréasán uisce agus leictreachais ag cur moill ar na mílte tithe agus á gcur i mbaol. For years we have listened to the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, say that housing is their number one priority yet every single day we get headlines about Government's failures and incompetence which is putting the delivery of thousands of homes at risk. Let us take this week alone. First, we had the Central Bank and the ESRI telling the Oireachtas housing committee that the Government will not meet its housing targets this year or next year and that without a major policy change, it will not meet its targets out to 2030.”
“We see from the CSO and from surveys by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and others that here are many families who simply cannot even put a hot dinner on the table. I ask the Minister for Finance, in the context of recording surpluses in excess of €17 billion this year and next year, that there would be a cost-of-living package, not to spend €17 billion on it but to recognise people have been short-changed by the Government and to recognise there is a need for one in this year's budget.”
“Yet it was proper for the Minister for Finance to sign off on the first piece of legislation he introduced, which was to give a big increase to junior Ministers and increase the number of super junior Ministers, which is something we are challenging in the courts. Inflation is also caused by the Government. When the Government decided to increase the carbon tax, it put up the price of petrol and diesel. It put up the price of home heating oil and gas, which the Government did last month. These are things that are under the Government's control. When the Government decides not to ban rent increases, inflation goes up and families are under pressure. These are things that could be under control if the Government would intervene. Given that the Government has not taken these measures, families are struggling now.”
“There are eye watering insurance costs and the Government is not doing anything to ensure that savings resulting from reforms are passed on. We have the highest electricity costs in Europe. This is also at a time when we will record significant surpluses in the region of €8 billion to €9 billion each year and the Government is leaving people high and dry because they need support at this time and a cost-of-living package is absolutely necessary.”
“Some inflation is absolutely beyond our control. Other high prices are as result of price gouging or Government failures. Our pillar banks had combined profits of €5 billion last year, much of that came from the fact homeowners and savers were short-changed. We have double digit rent increases. New rents outside of Dublin are rising by 9% with 12 counties experiencing double digit rent inflation increases. That is because the Government will not enact our legislation to ban rent increases. We have crippling childcare costs despite the Government's commitment to reduce them. We still do not have a plan to do that. The Minister's party promised a plan within 100 days and that is another promise that has been broken.”
“Will the Minister outline the surplus the State will run in 2025? That is in the context of the Government ruling out a cost-of-living package in the budget. We have heard this from the Minister and the Taoiseach. It is a reflection of a Government that is out of touch and that does not understand the real pressures ordinary people are under. This is despite surpluses of billions of euro being recorded not only this year but in previous years. People are really struggling because the actions of the Government have left them high and dry in some cases.”
“The industry is able to do this because the Government is not going to do anything it, despite the words of the former Taoiseach six or seven years ago. There is no stick when it comes to this issue. That is why the insurance companies are taking a hand not only at the Government but at their customers. What is happening is not right. What measures does the Minister plans to take to ensure that these reforms will result in meaningful reductions for consumers as opposed to whopping profits for the industry?”
“The problem here - and this is not the first time I have highlighted it - is that I, on behalf of Sinn Féin and the Alliance for Insurance Reform, said we needed commitments from the insurance industry that if reforms were introduced, then premiums needed to be reduced. The Minister's former party leader, Leo Varadkar, gave headlines to the newspapers six or seven years ago to the effect that he was giving the insurance industry six months or else. What did he mean by that? Just taking the past 12 months, insurance premiums for motorists have gone up a whopping 9%. Motor insurance is at the highest level it has been in five years. It is more than double the European average. What is driving motor insurance premiums up? There is only one thing: it is profit and corporate greed.”
“However, I argued that such reforms cannot be about boosting the profits of the industry; they have to be about putting money back into consumers' pockets. That is where the Government is failing over and over again.”
“The question I continue to raise relates to when the Government is going to deal with the issue of the costs that people are paying for motor insurance and home insurance and that sports groups, organisations, community groups and small businesses the length and breadth of this State are paying for public liability insurance. The profits being made by the industry are eye-watering. When representatives of the industry came before the finance committee, they told us they would target a 4% to 5% increase; not 4% to 5% over the past ten to 20 years but because that is the industry norm. Insurance premiums have increased and we have seen double-digit profit margins for the past three years. The margins they are making are two and three times the European average. I have supported all the reforms that have been introduced in this House.”
“As a point of order, the Minister is making accusations against somebody who cannot defend themselves. It was the Taoiseach who made that accusation and I will not accept the Minister calling me a thug or my behaviour thuggish while he protects and defends the situation where Israeli war bonds are here. I will not stand and allow the Minister to suggest that I am thuggish in that manner because we know what this is all about. This is far too important and I will not allow him to characterise my behaviour or standing up for what I believe in that way.”
“Maybe the Minister's response to this question will not be as pathetic because his words will ring hollow to the children who are being ripped apart in Gaza. The bombs and bullets are funded because Israeli bonds are being facilitated through the Irish Central Bank and he is the Minister of Finance who can actually stop that. It is disgraceful. I am asking the Minister to explain the steps he is taking to address the situation where insurance companies here are recording profits that are multiples of our European competitors.”
“It is not a minor issue. It is not an issue about words. It is the fact that genocide is happening right before our eyes and the Minister and his Government have made a decision to not intervene in areas where they can intervene and where we have the powers under EU law to issue measures, using the policy exemption, to make sure the free trade of capital can be restricted at a national level.”
“The Minister's response is pathetic. The facts are - and he knows it - the Central Bank has facilitated the sale of Israeli war bonds. That is a fact. Nobody in this House disputes that. The fact is the Governor said that to stop that, he needs national restrictive measures. The fact is the Minister's Government will not do it. Maybe he had another call with an Israeli minister to assure him that legislation would not go through also. Does the Minister remember that call he denied ever happened but it appeared in leaked information from the ministry in Israel? The fact is these war bonds are being sold. The fact is that if it was not for the Central Bank, they would not be able to be sold, not only in Ireland but in other countries throughout Europe. That is a fact. The fact is his Government is allowing that to happen.”
“Nobody is suggesting it is the Central Bank or the Governor who is selling them. It is the State of Israel that is selling them but it cannot sell them without being facilitated by the Irish Central Bank. When the Irish Central Bank approved the prospectus, it approved the prospectus because the Minister's Government will not provide restrictive measures. Those bonds are then not only sold here but throughout Europe. It is shameful what the Minister, Deputy Donohoe's Government has done and even at this stage, he should revisit this issue.”
“That is not true. The Minister said there is no discretion for the Central Bank when the information in the prospectus is accurate and it must approve it. That is not the case. What the Minister failed to admit is the Governor of the Central Bank said that there are three ways it can not approve it - one, the information is insufficient in the prospectus; two, the existence of EU sanctions prohibiting the provision of services or assistance in connection with the issuing of securities by the Israeli; or, three, national restrictive measures to the same effect. That is what we are dealing with. The Minister can dance around these words all he wants. For example, he said, "they are not regulated.". Nobody is suggesting these war bonds or genocide bonds are regulated.”
“Last night, the Government shamefully voted against legislation brought forward by me and Deputy Mary Lou McDonald that would end the practice of the sale of Israeli war bonds being facilitated by the Irish Central Bank. I would like the Minister to take the opportunity to outline to the Irish people the role Ireland has in facilitating the sale of these bonds. For example, what would it mean if the Central Bank did not approve the prospectus relating to such bonds, which, in reality, are not war bonds? A genocide is happening in which, unfortunately, Ireland is now complicit by facilitating the sale of these war bonds.”
“Shame on the Government. Disgraceful. It would not even let it go to Committee Stage. So much for the weasel words. There is no point in the Minister standing there and saying we will do everything for the people of Gaza. It is disgraceful.”
“Tonight is the night that every single person will be asked to vote to support the funding of genocide, which is what is happening by the sale of these war bonds, or stand with their constituents and the people of Gaza and on the right side of history and support the Bill.”
“There are examples of what that would mean. I hope the Government is glad I have dissected its counterargument. This is not about a to-and-fro here. Usually this would go to Committee Stage and these issues would be teased out. The Government is making sure the Bill never even gets another look. I believe the Minister is doing that in order to be the best boy in the class for Europe. I said earlier that tonight is the night that we stand up on behalf of all of our constituents and all of the people across Ireland who want to see us do everything in our power in the face of genocide. Tonight is the night we say that no more money is going to be raised in this country for the sale of war bonds.”
“The Central Bank, in a letter to me and the finance committee, made it very clear that the only way it can refuse the approval of a prospectus is in one of three ways, namely, that the disclosures in the prospectus are insufficient or there are EU financial sanctions or national restrictive measures to the same effect. Why would the Central Bank suggest national restricted measures if it was not compatible with EU law? The Bill is compatible with EU law. How do we know this? We know that there is case law in Europe on this. The treaties are very clear. One of the four fundamental freedoms in the European Union is the freedom of capital. Section 65(1)(B) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union places restrictions on that and states that that can be restricted on the basis of policy grounds.”
“There is no clear legal advice that the Bill is not compatible with the relevant law. We have the legal advice. It comes from the Houses of the Oireachtas. The legal advice is also consistent with the leaked advice of the Attorney General because a public policy exemption exists in EU law, and the Minister knows that. He argued the same thing with the occupied territories Bill seven bloody years ago. The Government has used the exact same arguments and referred to the term "extraterritorial". That argument was used seven years ago. The Government tried to use the term "unconstitutional" as well. There is a public policy exemption.”
“Every time the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, tries to throw insults around to the effect that it is badly drafted and not constitutional, he should remember that it is the staff of the Oireachtas, namely, the Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers, which drafted the Bill. We got a legal opinion from the office which stated that the Bill was constitutionally compliant, compliant with EU law and in accordance with international law. I note in his speech the Minister did not state the Bill was not compliant with the Constitution or EU or international law. Rather, his speech stated that it is thought that such measures would be judged in that manner. When he delivered his speech, he said it was advised that that is the case. He also referred to something not having a material impact.”
“Children are being burned alive and the Government is talking about green bonds. Israel is promoting these as war bonds. It is asking people to join the war effort, the genocide. The Bill prevents our Central Bank from approving the prospectus. When it approves the prospectus, that means Israel can passport into other European countries. That is how the Bill would have an effect in other European countries. It would be up to Israel to apply for another home country if it wanted to do that. That member state would have to ask whether it wanted to stand up and be counted. The Government has made a decision today. There have been weasel words and no action. It is not acceptable. The Bill was not drafted by me.”
“I begin by thanking all of the speakers who supported the Bill. It was refreshing and great to see the combined Opposition come out and support the Bill. The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, made one of the most shameful speeches I have heard in all of my time in the Dáil. That speech will come back to haunt him. It was full of nonsense, to tell him the God's honest truth, in the face of genocide. It argued stuff that was inconsistent. For example, he said Article 215 of the EU treaty precludes individual member states from issuing their own restrictive measures. It does not state that. Does the Minister want me to read Article 215 of the European treaty for him? It does not state that. It is simply not true. Another Minister said Israel could issue green bonds as if it is planting trees or watercourses in Gaza. It is bombing children.”
“There were many times in recent years when we debated important issues in this Dáil, but none was more important than this. I appeal to everyone to do the right thing and vote to end the sale of war bonds through the Irish Central Bank.”
“Today is the day we say "No more". Today is the day we stand up and are counted. On behalf of everyone who was elected to the Dáil and on behalf of the people who do not have a vote and cannot stop the Central Bank allowing the sale of Israeli war bonds - all they can do is go on the streets, march, carry their banners, write their letters and plead with their politicians to act - today is the day we can act and say "Not in our name". The Central Bank has written to the finance committee and said, for it to act, it needs either the EU or this Parliament to intervene. That is exactly what this Bill does. It allows for national restrictive measures. It gives the Central Bank exactly what it said it needs and, more important, puts us on the right side of history.”
“He spoke of leaving other children close by in pain, in agony, to die. Those are the decisions he said he had to make every day in Gaza. It is gut-wrenching even to imagine it. The bombs raining down that tore those defenceless children apart had to be paid for and, in the past year and a half, Israel raised an estimated €4.5 billion by selling war bonds in Europe. That was only possible because the Irish Central Bank gave it permission to do so. It was no other central bank. It was the Irish Central Bank. Let us talk about easy decisions. Supporting this Bill should be the easiest decision the Irish Government ever makes. It ends our shameful involvement with Israeli war bonds. We all know we are staring a genocide in the face. Men, women and children are being slaughtered. Children are being burned alive.”
“I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." This Bill gives us the power to put a block on war bonds being sold through the Irish Central Bank across the European Union, the power to finally sanction Israel. If the Government's words mean anything, it will support this Bill because words mean nothing if the Government refuses to act. There are hard decisions and easy decisions. I listened to a doctor describe responding to a mass casualty event. He only had two shots of painkillers. He had to decide who would get them and who would not. He outlined the harrowing thought process. He narrowed it down to children. Children would get them. He then made the unimaginable decision to keep the painkillers for children, not with the worst injuries, but the two children with the worst injuries who he thought had a hope of living.”
“Even today there are parents in my constituency of Donegal as well as right throughout the State who do not know when they will have that independent analysis assessment so they may know whether or not their child needed that operation. How is it that over those two months one parent sent 30 emails with no response, only to get a response when they threatened legal action? Does the Minister know the response the parent received last week? It was that they would be in touch with the parent in the coming months. This is a disgrace. It is a disgrace of governance, it is a failure of practitioners and it is a failure of the Government to get ahead of this issue and to deal with it when it was brought to its attention quite a number of months ago.”
“We know of parents who went for second opinions and the consultants told them they did not need the operation as the child did not even have the condition and said words, which were relayed back to me, such as, "We are alarmed at what is happening in Dublin". How was none of this noticed? Over the years my colleagues on these benches have been raising different issues in relation to CHI and governance issues so why did the Government not take a deep dive into CHI and actually looked at what was going on? When the leaked report came out, I stood here two months ago to say to the Government to get ahead of this. This is a scandal the likes of which we have never seen.”
“We are used to hearing about scandals and about reports but when we are talking about numbers, we must remember that 80% of the operations at Cappagh hospital were not necessary and 60% in Temple Street hospital, and every single one of those involved a child. We are talking about hundreds of little girls and little boys who went into an operating theatre, who had serious and invasive surgery carried out on their hips and who are learning how to walk again. A bit of their childhood was stolen from them. We are not talking about one, two or three: we are talking about hundreds and hundreds of children. How did this go on not for one year or two years but likely for quite a number of years?”
“When we read the report words kind of fail us. We have heard words over the last number of days such as "shocked" and "disgraceful" from parents who are dealing with the anger and the emotion. As my party colleague, Deputy Mary Lou McDonald, mentioned earlier, one parent felt they had let their child down. This is an emotion expressed by many of the parents I have spoken to. It is the wrong emotion because it was not they who let their child down; it was the State, it was the system, it was CHI, it was Temple Street and Cappagh hospitals, it was governance and, I would argue, it was the Government.”
“They then see that the Government delivered fewer houses last year than in the previous year. Does the Minister accept that the Government's housing plan has failed young people and those who want to get a roof over their head, in terms of affordability? Does he accept that it is actually going in reverse in delivering houses as testified by the numbers from the CSO which show the Government delivered fewer houses last year and is on course to do the same again this year?”
“I think the Tánaiste has been at the Cabinet table for nearly a decade, nine years or so. In that period, the average house price has increased by €200,000 which a huge sum of money for any family. That is just the increase for a new home since the Tánaiste took up office around the Cabinet table. Indeed in the last five years, the average house price increased by €100,000. Every five years the price of housing has gone up by €100,000 under his Government. Is it any wonder that there are now 100,000 Irish-born people in Australia? Is it any wonder that so many people do not feel their future is in this country when they cannot afford a house anymore? Young people are struggling to put a roof over their heads and finding that prices are just running out of control.”
“On the day that we have been told the project is delayed again, that it will not see patients until June 2026 at the earliest and that the CEO is saying he is not confident in that date, can the Tánaiste not at least acknowledge that he got this wrong, that he should not have signed this contract, and that the contract he signed, which was build-as-you-go, was a contract with no plan and that it was wrong? This is why we are in a situation where over the last five years the Government has missed its targets 15 times and this project has ballooned out of control.”
“Sure we all know that. That is why we have been waiting years for the hospital to open. The Tánaiste was the Taoiseach for some of the last five years but before that he was the Minister for Health. The deadline for opening this hospital has been missed 15 times. That is crazy. The Tánaiste is right that children are waiting for this hospital. We know it is state-of-the-art. Not only has the deadline been missed 15 times, but this project has gone from €650 million up to €2.2 billion and we are not sure that this will be the final cost. I put it to the Tánaiste that he personally signed off on this contract. Accountability starts when the Tánaiste starts accepting responsibility.”
“He signed on the dotted line, despite having no obligation to do so, leaving us with a contract that is totally skewed in favour of the construction company. We have heard before from the Tánaiste, and I am sure he might say it again, that lessons will be learned. Lessons cannot be learned unless people take responsibility. As the Minister who signed off on that contract, does the Tánaiste take responsibility? Does he admit that it was the wrong contract to sign? It is why BAM has had us over a barrel for eight years. Does he accept that he got it wrong? Will he tell us now when children will be treated in that hospital and how we can have any confidence in that date? Why have we missed this deadline 15 times? Will the Tánaiste also inform the Dáil how much this hospital will cost the public purse at the end of the day?”
“It is no surprise to anybody on this side that developers are going to squeeze out as much profit as they can, but competent Ministers are supposed to protect the public purse. When the Tánaiste signed that contract, he declared open season on the public finances, showing complete incompetence. Anybody who has signed a contract, whether to build a house or just to replace a kitchen, will know that you need a plan in place. Even when this was getting out of control and costs were ballooning, the Tánaiste had the chance to change course. BAM offered to withdraw from this contract. The Tánaiste had the chance to change but he did not take it. He had the chance to put a proper plan in place but he did not take it.”
“We are told today that this hospital will open in June 2026 at the very earliest. The CEO of the hospital board does not even have confidence in that date. The Tánaiste has broken his election promise when he said it would be delivered in June. Does he really expect the public to have any greater faith in this date than in any one of the other 15 dates that he and his Government Ministers have announced? The Tánaiste personally signed the contract for the national children's hospital without even having a finalised plan in place. It was a case of build as you go. That is why BAM has had the State over a barrel for the last eight years. The Government is now blaming the construction company.”
“Tá costas an togra anois tar éis pléasctha ó €650 milliún go €2.2 billiún agus níl sé déanta fós. Inniu, tuigimid go bhfuil moill eile ar an togra seo leis an 15ú dáta críochnaithe nua le cúig bliana anuas. The scandal of the national children's hospital has now become an epic saga. A project that was supposed to cost the State €650 million has now ballooned into a project costing €2.2 billion and we do not even know if it will finish at that. The Tánaiste's Minister for Health visited the project last February and said that it was 99% complete. She said we were within touching distance. However, today we have learned that we are far from within touching distance and that it is going to be pushed back again. Not for the first or second time but for the 15th time in the last five years, the Government has missed its target.”