Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister, the director general, Mr. Tony O'Brien, and his staff for making themselves available. There is no doubt that we are facing into a very difficult year for those who use the system and those who work within it. I join my colleagues in acknowledging the tremendous work carried out in primary care and in acute sectors throughout the country. There are some positives and it would be remiss of us not to acknowledge that. We had extensive hearings on organ donation. Those services stagnated for a number of years and were limited in the kinds of life-changing operation that could be carried out. There are many people who are thankful for the increased funding that has been provided at a very difficult time. That is welcome.

I wish to focus on a report carried out about two years ago, whose name eludes me - I apologise for that - on the internal financial and auditing systems that were not in place within the HSE. At that time it identified that those working in a financial capacity within the HSE often had no financial or accounting qualifications. What is the position now in regard to upskilling those people?

Have we recruited people with the correct skills base to do this?

I note in the report that €40 million has been allocated for ICT investment across the HSE. It promises to deliver quite a lot. I would like to know a little more about this. There are but a couple of lines devoted to this in the relevant report. The HSE hopes to implement recommendations on approved hospital clinical systems, the national patient administrative system in the south-east and mid-west regions, the development of a medical laboratory information system on hospital sites and the development of corporate systems, including the health insurance claims management system, a matter I have raised time and again. Also referred to is a single integrated financial system, about which I am particularly concerned. Am I right in saying the majority of the deficit pertains to acute services?