Mr. Ian Tegerdine:

I am afraid I would not know that because that would have been led by the national director of acute hospitals. The contracts rest with him.

The next question was about the level of co-operation. How would I describe the level of co-operation? As I understand the agencies reluctantly provided us with the information, it took a little bit of time but they all complied with providing the information, other than the ones to which we referred. Our current contract with them requires them to reveal their remuneration arrangements within their annual reports. In terms of whether we need to do more detailed analysis, the remuneration has to be a matter of public record.

Recommendation No. 20 relates to the sizing exercise. My understanding of the status of that report is that it is still under confidential discussion between the Department of Health and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. It has not been published and I do not think it is possible at this stage to make it available.