Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge what Ms McGuinness said about St. James's Hospital. A number of months ago at a meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts, there was a disagreement about whether consultants at St. Vincent's Hospital were working within their contracts in the context of private versus public hospitals. Ms McGuinness gave an example to show that she is happy that the internal audits were signed off for St. James's Hospital. However, this case came up before the PAC. Consultants were double-jobbing or being paid on the double and I remain concerned about the audit trail. Would a fresh set of eyes not be better, with officials from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform examining the accounts? I am amazed that Ms McGuinness said that section 38 and 39 agencies are not on the HSE's financial systems.