Mr. Robert Watt:

The system is enormous. A total of €54 billion has been spent and there are 290,000 people so there will be issues. One cannot extrapolate from one issue and then say that it is endemic across the system or that the issue arises, but clearly if the same types of issue come up within organisations, then obviously that is a flag and it is something that requires a response.

I have two further comments to make on the specifics. In terms of whistleblowers, the committee is aware our Department drafted legislation which has been enacted to provide protection for people who want to reveal things that are going on, and they now have protection to do that which they did not have previously. Our Minister has responded to this agenda and has now enacted very important legislation which enables people to identify wrongdoing and ensure that if they do, they will not be subjected to any adverse pressure or be treated unfairly.

We have embarked on the largest programme of public procurement reform ever. We have done that because of a series of reports produced by the Comptroller and Auditor General and a series of discussions at the Committee of Public Accounts going back over a generation which identified not an amateurish but not a sufficiently robust and professional procurement function. That is why we have a procurement office staffed with procurement people who are doing an amazing job in establishing this entity. That is what we are doing. We responded to concerns and the Department is working on them, but certainly in terms of the HSE, we would be interested in the committee’s discussions next week. We will follow the debate and see what more we could do. We have a memorandum of understanding now and we are working with the HSE on common goods and services on which we will assist it to procure. We encourage the HSE to have a professional approach to procurement in line with the guidelines and to address very seriously the issues raised by the auditor.