Mr. Nicholas Jermyn:

Deputy Harris has asked if we put in a protection of the State's interests. The hospital campus is one and there is an integrated model of one legal entity. We never said we were not going to sign any grant agreement. The Comptroller and Auditor General's report, if I recollect correctly, refers to a lot of facilities for which grant agreements were being made. There was no vehicle at the time. In 2009, as the Deputy may recall, the Mater Hospital was the first of the big acute hospitals to sign one of these agreements. We sat down with the HSE. It is important to emphasise, despite what the Deputy has quoted, that we signed an agreement. We are a charitable organisation, a public not-for-profit institution. We are there to serve the public. The assets are now protected for the State in perpetuity. The Deputy is correct that loans were taken out prior to 2009 but since then we have put an agreement in place. The board decided to put it in place and did not shirk its responsibility. We agree that we must protect the State's interests. We are providing public services. We have a private hospital on campus but one board runs the entire institution for a very good reason. There are huge benefits in terms of patient care to be able to provide services with one identity.