Mr. Tony O'Brien:

We have met the chairs and at least one other board member of every section 38 organisation during December. We met them differentially whether were acute-type service providers or more disability-type service providers because they are slightly different in their characteristics and the nature of their governance structures. Where we have identified specific issues outstanding from the audit or our interaction with them, we are having one-to-one meetings. Members will be aware of the outcome of our one-to-one meeting with the CRC. Shortly the Committee of Public Accounts will be aware of the outcome of our one-to-one meeting with St. Vincent's University Hospital. There are others which have not yet reached that point.

We have also instituted a new compliance statement that will be required as part of the audit process. This has been arrived at following consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor General, who is not the auditor for most of these bodies. We will be requiring their boards to actively certify the extent to which they are compliant with a range of good-governance practices, including compliance with public pay policy. That will be part of the annual process and will be embedded within it. As members are aware, we have formally taken control of the Central Remedial Clinic following the decision of its board to resign in the context of our communication to it that given what we now knew, there was no basis for us to continue to provide it with public funding. Consequently, it has exited and we have put in place an interim administrator. We will be making arrangements, working with a voluntary body, Boardmatch Ireland, to put in place a board on a competency basis. It is not a State body so it is not a matter for ministerial appointment. We expect to complete that within a period of months. We currently have an interim administrator in there through whom we are carrying out a forensic audit of all matters pertaining to the governance of that service.

I must put on record my admiration for the staff of the Central Remedial Clinic, CRC, who I visited last week, for the tremendous efforts they have made to maintain vital services at a time of considerable stress for them, the patients and the parents of patients during the course of public disclosure of matters of which they had no knowledge themselves. I met with some parents and clients who very much value the work of the staff of the CRC and whose integrity should not be brought into question as a result of these disclosures. We very much hope through this process to rehabilitate the good name of the CRC, as well as the Santa Bear appeal and the clinic’s other appeals that have been widely supported over the years.

Regarding Deputy Fitzpatrick’s questions on interventions, yesterday I visited the Louth-Meath hospital group which this year, with specific supports, has made significant achievements in its performance in inpatient-outpatient service provision, elective surgery and trolley waiting time reductions. It also achieved a 92% rating from HIQA on hand hygiene standards during a recent audit. All of these developments represent a significant turnaround at this hospital group, led by Margaret Swords, general manager, and Dr. Dominic O'Brannagain, medical director.