"Government refusing to release revised estimates on National Children's Hospital might have something to do with tomorrow's by-election" – Tóibín
The Aontú leader, Peadar Tóibín TD has speculated that the government's refusal to disclose details of the revised estimates of the costs of the new National Children's Hospital is because they may wish to wait until after the by-election is held tomorrow.
Deputy Tóibín was speaking after he quizzed the Minister for Finance in the Oireachtas Finance Committee this afternoon. He said:
"The National Pediatric Hospital Development Board today refused to disclose details of the latest revised estimates for the National Children's Hospital to the Health Committee. Parallel to that meeting I asked in the Finance Committee if the Minister for Finance knew the estimates and if he could disclose them to the committee. He refused to answer my question on the grounds that it wasn't relevant to the legislation being discussed. This is contempt for parliamentary democracy and oversight. We are not asking the Ministers to betray any secrets. The people have a right to know what is happening with their money”.
“I would suspect that the real reason for this is because Fine Gael wish to maintain their image as the party of economic prudence until after the ballots close in Dublin Bay South tomorrow evening, lest people be reminded of the hames they made and are continuing to make of the NCH. I hope the people of Dublin Bay South do not forget about the many overspends and instances of downright wasting of taxpayer money in recent years", concluded Tóibín.
ENDs
See Committee Exchange Here: https://drive.google.com/file/
