Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I actually disagree, not based on my own feelings on the issue but based on the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, the comments of Mr. Cathal Magee and the comments of the former Comptroller and Auditor General at a meeting of this committee at which I was present. The conclusion of the report from the Comptroller and Auditor General is that St. Vincent's Healthcare Group pledged publicly funded assets in return for bank finance for the development of its private hospital. It is perfectly legitimate for Mr. Jermyn to talk about the new structures that were put in place and it can certainly be said that the HSE ran around retrospectively trying to claw back the situation. However, it is very clear, in black and white in the Comptroller and Auditor General's report and from Mr. Magee's comments, that the structure put in place is the least worst option in terms of the interests of the taxpayer. It is not as good as the State would have wished.