Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

At the last committee meeting Mr. Magee attended, I asked a question on the number of people working in the HSE in receipt of salaries in excess of €70,000, the number of those individuals in line to receive an increment this year and the cost of those increments. At the time, Mr. Magee did not have the information available, which was understandable, and I was told the information would be sent on to the committee. The committee then received a note from the HSE saying the information was not available because it was not collated. One of my colleagues, who left earlier, obtained information through a parliamentary question on the number of people who earn over €100,000 and the cost of their increments. Increments, and the question of whether they are paid, is a policy matter and not an issue for the HSE. However, in terms of accounting for its budget and its spending, I am confused as to why the information was not available to the committee when it sought the information in correspondence. When a parliamentary question was tabled, the information was available. I was baffled that the data were not available. I wonder if the data are available in parliamentary questions but not to the Committee of Public Accounts. It does not seem to tally.