Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending.

I am somewhat amused by the contrast between the number of officials from the HSE and the one person who was sent to represent the Beacon Hospital.

It is a matter of fact that, as a result of a procurement process, a publicly funded hospital paid ten times what it would previously have paid for services provided to it. Do the witnesses believe this is right or appropriate? Not for a moment do I believe that this is an isolated case. What monitoring process has been put in place to prevent something like this from happening? Why did it take a whistleblower and an investigation by "Prime Time" to make the general public aware of what was occurring? When was the Minister informed? What actions has the HSE taken since it became aware of what was happening, and was the Minister informed of these? In light of what my colleague Senator Crown stated, are the witnesses confident that the current investigation is fully independent and transparent?

The whistleblower referred to five hospitals, including Mullingar, St. Columcille's and St. Vincent's. What are the remaining two hospitals and what investigation has the HSE undertaken to ensure this issue is not occurring on a wider scale? Last week, it published an annual financial report that confirmed that the value of contracts awarded by it without a tendering process had increased by €38.7 million between 2013 and 2014. Why are so many lucrative contracts being awarded without going to public tender? We are discussing taxpayers' money.

I have been contacted with a number of queries that I hope the witnesses will be able to answer. Will the officials confirm whether the HSE procurement unit has ever taken a trip with a supplier? Are they familiar with a supplier called PEI - and an officer in that company whom I will not name now, but whose name I am happy to provide afterwards - which has a franchise for INTCO products and previously worked with Hartmann products?