Mr. Barry O'Brien:

With the permission of the Chair, I will respond to Deputy McDonald. I do not accept there was ambiguity on the part of the HSE. First, when one looks at the service level arrangement we had in place, the specific reference to a signed statement of compliance with Government public policy and when one now looks at the case of St. Vincent's Hospital who in spite of being issued with a new policy, repeating the fact that in their view they are fully compliant. Nothing has changed in their view since the issuing of the pay policy. What we are saying is that when one is working in a complex situation in providing health care, with agencies operating under sections 38 and or 39, there is a certain level of corporate responsibility and trust that one must take when people sign their names to a service level agreement, giving an absolute assurance that they are in compliance with Government policy. It is clear that is what has happened. It was not until the audit that it was discovered, when we received confirmation in 2012 that three of their senior managers were in receipt of payment from a different source.