Mr. Barry O'Brien:

As the Secretary General said in his opening statement, one can see the length of time it has taken, even with the detailed internal audit report, to have full engagement with and compliance by section 38 organisations.

Even today, we do not have full disclosure, which, in itself, is a major challenge. There is a situation, acknowledged in the internal audit report, where several of these allowances or top-ups have a historical aspect. There is certainly an onus on the HSE to afford due process to any individual who may be in receipt of these payments by way of a contract or any other arrangement.

It is clear that the current pay policy issued in September sets out clearly what every section 38 agency must now do. An agency must make full disclosure. If it wishes to retain or seek approval to retain any of these payments, it is set out clearly that it must make a business case. That approval process extends as far as the HSE, the Department of Health and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, where necessary. For the first time we are putting in place significantly improved governance procedures to ensure we will deal with this matter correctly and effectively in the future.