Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

For the purposes of the committee, I find it troubling that there is more than an inference in this regard but a report that agencies have made this claim. Incidentally, let me be absolutely clear that there should be no tolerance shown or quarter given to any agencies that brazenly breach public sector pay guidelines and policy. It must be galling for public servants on modest salaries to observe all of this. It is certainly very troubling for people who rely on the services of hospitals and facilities such as the CRC.

My concern, however, is that the guidelines or lack thereof, the absence of clarity and the position whereby the system stood off this issue for a considerable period may go some way towards explaining why we had correspondence such as that which we saw last week from the CRC, why we have the almost farcical position of letters landing on our desks in the middle of an Oireachtas committee hearing and why we are waiting for word from St. Vincent's Hospital. The whole issue is off the wall. Those are my concerns.

Viewing this in the round, and without giving any succour to people who are thumbing their noses at the system while taking taxpayers' money, the concern must be that a very poor system was in place in respect of regulation and there may have been a level of informality and informal sanction, although I take Dr. McLoughlin's point that this does not amount to sanction. We need these matters cleared up if we are to do what we all aim to achieve, namely, rebuild public confidence in these key organisations. Does Dr. McLoughlin share my view?