John Crown (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am sure she is a person of incredible rectitude, but if somebody is offered a contract for which one is qualified, he or she would normally take it. The question arises from our level of satisfaction with St. Vincent's effectively investigating itself. The questions that need to be asked are not only about the person who is in line management on procurement issues but about the institutional reaction to it. For the hospital to say it will not come to a statutory body such as our committee because there is another investigation under way, when it has commissioned the investigation and picked the people who will do it, is, I believe, entirely inappropriate, and it should not be an excuse for them not to come to the meeting today. We should, I believe, have an opinion as to the adequacy of an investigation that is being conducted in that way. The specific questions I would ask about the people carrying out the investigation are as follows. How were they picked? How much are they being paid? What are the terms of reference and who drew them up? I do not think it flies.

There is form in this regard, and it is on the public record of the Seanad that I drew attention to major concerns about an issue that was highlighted in The Irish Timesin December 2013, as well as a time, 11 years before, when I had grave concerns about certain issues that had arisen in St. Vincent's. At the time it was stated that an independent investigation had been conducted. I provided documents in the House which showed that the investigation team had again been chosen by St. Vincent's and paid for by the hospital, and the terms of reference had been drawn up by St. Vincent's. This is not the way publicly funded bodies should be doing their business. I do not think that we should be happy that they have deferred their attendance to answer valid questions being put to them today because of another investigation that they have undertaken.