Dynamic SQL in function

I'm trying to define a simple function that uses dynamic SQL. Here is
the function definition:

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION count_records (VARCHAR)
RETURN INTEGER AS '
DECLARE
cursor1 REFCURSOR;
num_recs INTEGER;
BEGIN
OPEN cursor1 FOR EXECUTE "SELECT count(*) FROM " ||
quote_ident($1);
FETCH cursor1 INTO num_recs;
RETURN num_recs;
END;
' LANGUAGE 'plpgsql';

The function creates fine, but when I try to execute it I get the
following:

testdb=> select count_records('table1') as output;
NOTICE: plpgsql: ERROR during compile of count_records near line 5
ERROR: unterminated " in name "SELECT

Line 5 is the open cursor line. According to the "PostgreSQL 7.2
Programmer's Guide" (http://www7.us.postgresql.org/users-lounge/docs/7.2/programmer-7.2-US.pdf)
section 23.7.2.2, I believe this line should work. Can anybody see
what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks.
Robert Goodwin