Mr John O'Donoghue has now become the third successive Minister for Tourism in eight years to identify the construction of a National Conference Centre in Dublin as a priority project.
His predecessors - Mr Enda Kenny and Dr James McDaid - both put considerable time and effort into this enterprise and failed to deliver. Mr O'Donoghue may fail, too.
Given the complexity of the procurement process and the likelihood of planning delays, it is a safe bet that he will not be cutting the red ribbon at the official opening of a new conference centre before he leaves office.
There is a broad consensus that a national conference centre is required and some would even argue that it is an essential piece of infrastructure for any capital city worthy of the name. Dublin Chamber of Commerce has estimated that the city's economy is losing up to €50 million a year by not having such a facility to cater for international gatherings or globalised company outings. Beneficiaries would include hotels, restaurants, bars and retail outlets - not to mention the Exchequer itself from VAT and excise receipts.
Yet the procurement of this loss-leader project has been accurately described as a monumental planning fiasco. The reason is simple - that successive governments expected to procure it at no cost to the public purse, even at the height of the so-called Celtic Tiger boom. And now that the money has run out, we cannot afford to build it ourselves without running the risk of breaching the EU Stability and Growth Pact. Would that we had followed Belfast's example of funding its magnificent Waterfront Hall, or Sydney's stupendous Opera House, which was delivered debt-free when it opened in 1973.
What we are very good at in this State is dithering, rather than delivering. And even when major projects do get under way, such as Luas and the Dublin Port Tunnel, they are bedevilled by lengthy delays and massive cost over-runs. A National Conference Centre could have been built 10 years ago for less than €50 million, but who knows what it will cost now?
Mr O'Donoghue is to be commended at least for having another fling on the merry-go-round. He claims that at least three private sector groups have expressed interest in the project, but it remains to be seen whether the scheme that is finally chosen will actually materialise. Based on previous experience, the omens are not good.