Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Chairman is certainly speaking on behalf of the committee in expressing our collective disappointment that the St. Vincent's Healthcare Group is not coming before us today. I find it absolutely unacceptable. I do not believe that its coming before the joint committee would in any way compromise the investigation that is under way, or indeed any other investigation in matters pertaining to that hospital or any other hospital site.

This is an important engagement and I welcome the Beacon Hospital and the HSE representatives who are here today. They are here in the spirit of what we in the committee had set out to address following the very serious matters that have come to light only in the past week in the "Prime Time" programme.

I ask the Chairman, on behalf of the committee, to communicate with Professor Michael Keane, the acting chief executive officer at St. Vincent's University Hospital. I see we have a separate communication, further to the first notice that it would not attend today, from a Mr. Jermyn, who is described as director of strategy of the St. Vincent's Healthcare Group, which I presume includes St. Vincent's Private Hospital. I ask the Chairman to communicate to both Professor Keane and Mr. Jermyn our serious disappointment at their failure to come before us at this time.