Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions Dail Éireann — 2026-02-17 ============================================================ Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central I believe this project is in the overwhelming public interest and that there is an overwhelming public benefit. That is why we funded about €16 million into Hampson House to facilitate decanting but also provision of a first-class service now in terms of outpatient facilities, antenatal clinics and all of that. The Government is 100% behind this project but An Coimisiún Pleanála is independent, as all TDs would want. In this House no one has ever suggested it should not be. However, I hope the Deputy will back us now when we bring forward a critical infrastructure Bill. I hope we get the House's agreement that, certainly in health, there are exceptional projects that need to bypass the planning process altogether and just get it done----- --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-17/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:38+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-02-17