Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The charity sector does phenomenal work. People are out there today fundraising for various charities up and down the country, many on a voluntary basis. We had the CRC before us last week. In St. Vincent's Hospital there are three people involved. St. Vincent's employs a significant number of people doing fantastic work on the ground. It is grossly unacceptable, unnecessary and unfounded that, once again, a small number of people are casting a cloud over the entire sector. I ask St. Vincent's Hospital to communicate with our committee before the end of our deliberations, come forth with the information as requested and play its part in an open and transparent system. People are entitled to be paid a fair salary for the work they do, but when the majority of an organisation's funding comes from public sources, the taxpayer and the people who use their services, it should provide the information requested. It should play its part in a fully transparent and open system so that public hospitals, which do phenomenal work, and the charity sector can get on with their business in an open way.

I put it to Mr. O'Brien that this has taken too long. It has dragged on into the Christmas period which, in my view, was unnecessary. The internal report is eight or nine months old at this stage. A resolution of this matter needs to be found quickly. Can Mr. O'Brien give that assurance today?