Taoiseach Simon Harris has admitted that he was "unnecessarily pedantic and semantic" during the RTÉ Leaders' Debate when speaking about his involvement in the National Children’s Hospital project.
Plagued by delays and spiralling costs, the hospital project is set to cost more than €2 billion and has been a key focus of attacks on the Coalition parties from the Opposition during the election campaign.
During the RTÉ Leaders’ Debate on Monday, journalist Katie Hannon put it to Mr Harris that during his time as Minister for Health he “personally signed the contract that brought us the Children’s Hospital saga.”
The Fine Gael leader replied, “well of course I didn’t, but continue.” When Ms Hannon said that as then minister for health he was responsible for signing the contract, he said: “The Government of Ireland made a decision to build the National Children’s Hospital and I was a part of the Government.”
In an interview with Newstalk radio on Thursday, Mr Harris acknowledged that the “buck stops with him” in relation to the National Children’s Hospital.
“The point I was trying to make is [that] there's sometimes comments that are a little flippant, like one person signed off on the contract. The point I'm making is these things go through a very deliberative process.
“Lots of departments look at them; lots of bean counters – and I don't mean that disrespectfully – in different departments.
“There's a board, a National Paediatric Hospital Development Board, and then the Minister of the day, in this case was me, would bring a proposal to Cabinet rather than sign a contract. That kind of missed the point, though.”
Meanwhile, Mr Harris refuted suggestions that Ireland could find itself unprepared for a possible “transatlantic trade shock” when Donald Trump becomes President next January.
Mr Harris said that work has begun in Government departments and at an EU level to address possible issues with the next US administration.
“The EU and the US depend on each other. Of course they do. They did before the presidential election and they will after. But there is a new reality in terms of the policy approach and that is why it is absolutely essential that in this election and the next Government prepares for those shocks by putting in place a buffer.
“By putting in place funds that can protect us from any changes in our economy and the European economy that might come.
“We are the only political party in this election who is keeping within the 5 per cent spending rule outlined by the Department of Finance. Quite frankly, it means around €27 billion less being spent and committed to by my party than Sinn Féin.
“While there are significant head winds our country is in a good shape to withstand it but only if we continue the policy direction in terms of setting aside money in funds.”
Mr Harris insisted that his party was making fewer commitments in relation to additional spending than all of the other parties.
He said that a buffer was being put in place to ensure that Irish children “never experience the austerity that our generation did.”
“I am travelling right across the country. I am hearing from people about the cost of living. That is real too. A number of the decisions we are making in our manifesto are about investment.
“We are making spending commitments around lowering the VAT rate for small businesses. We are doing that to save jobs. For every three jobs in Ireland two of three are in small indigenous companies and we have to support them.”
Meanwhile, Mr Harris was asked about a story in the Irish Times on Thursday which details a private undisclosed dinner between Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe and Michael O’Leary of Ryanair.
Mr Harris said it was his understanding that “this was entirely a social dinner.”
“There is very clear rules around business engagements and those rules are always followed. This was entirely a social dinner. I don’t have any further comment in relation to it. We don’t regulate who you have dinner with in this country.
“But we do put very clear rules in relation to lobbying and the likes and this was not that.”
Mr Harris was also asked if recent criticism of deputy Fine Gael leader and Minister of Justice Helen McEntee had been sexist in nature.
The Taoiseach said that some of the comments have been “a bit inappropriate.”
“Some people need to check some of the language they have used in recent days in relation to some of the criticism. I think there is an undertone there at times and it is not just confined to Minister McEntee. But also to many women in politics. We need to be aware of that and call it out.”
