Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We have seen a huge growth in the provision of services by private care companies in recent years. The figures I have available, and Ms McGuinness can correct me if I am wrong, suggest that, for example, in 2007 expenditure from the HSE on private care contractors was approximately €2.5 million, and such expenditure has climbed to €19.14 million in 2011, the year for which figures are most recently available. In many ways this has been at the expense of the displacement of some people working in the public system. I do not expect Ms McGuinness to comment on that. It is just an observation.

Has the HSE engaged in any critical analysis of the actual cost involved in engaging private care companies as opposed to retaining the services of people in the public system? There is an implicit assumption, whether in respect of agency staff or other areas, that by outsourcing services, savings can be made. There is research that attempts to prove otherwise and there is a good deal of evidence that suggests many organisations, and analogous organisations such as the NHS in the UK, are now deciding to insource services again because they have learned lessons from the past in terms of the expenditure of public moneys on outsourcing. Has any examination been undertaken by the HSE on those sorts of costs and whether it is beneficial to the taxpayer to focus on public versus private provision or vice versa? Can Ms Laverne elaborate on that?