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

I welcome Mr. Cullen here this afternoon and thank him for his presentation and for his willingness to answer questions. We are told a dossier was presented to the Minister last September that referenced seven hospitals, which were not named, to my best knowledge. I understand a number of those are taxpayer-funded, while some clearly were not. Could Mr. Cullen advise us whether the Beacon Hospital was one of the hospitals referenced for that investigation, which I understand is being conducted by the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation? Were there any earlier indications, prior to the "Prime Time" programme last week, of wrongdoing in respect of procurement practices at the Beacon Hospital?

I understand that an investigation into these matters is ongoing within the hospital, and I hope externally also, but in terms of the recent programme, which focused on a single supplier, and what he may or may not know at this point in time, will Mr. Cullen confirm to the committee if he will be looking at all procurement and suppliers and not just the entity named in the programme? Will he confirm that his investigation and his co-operation with any external investigation will be holistic in terms of addressing this matter in the round? This is hugely important. I do not believe anyone is of the view that this is isolated to a single supplier. The practices that have been exposed very likely apply in a number of situations.

Mr. Cullen's statement aside, would he accept, given the understandable extent of public anger at what has been witnessed and what has been demonstrated to us across our television screens, that some of the reportage in the media about getting gifts is a very mild way of presenting something that is far more serious? Quite frankly, these are pay-offs, no matter what way one looks at it. It is very serious because, quite clearly, the matters under investigation are not just about pay-offs for favouritism but are about procurements approved for highly inflated costs.