Mr. Liam Woods:

I will answer the detailed questions from Deputy Troy. Regarding when the Minister was informed, the HSE was advised by the Department so the Minister was not advised by the HSE of this allegation. He was advised separately from us. I do not wish to give a wrong date but I believe the timing of that may have been September last year.

The Deputy asked if the current investigation is independent. In terms of the work taking place within the HSE at present, the HBS division, which includes procurement, is undertaking a line-by-line transaction review. Internal audit, which has an independent role within the organisation, will then support that in terms of undertaking any further inquiries. However, as I said in the statement, we are reviewing every transaction. That would include both supplies and capital, and I will return to capital under Deputy Ó Caoláin's question because he referred to it.

Regarding the other two hospitals, the two HSE hospitals referred to are St. Columcille's and Mullingar. Beacon Hospital and St. Vincent's Private Hospital were referred to and the media reported that the Bon Secours hospital was the fifth hospital reported in the original allegation.

On contracts out for tender and the reference to €38 million, the Deputy is referring to the section 40/02 disclosure requirements for the HSE for contracts over €25,000 in value that have not been subject to tender. The Deputy asked why that figure is growing. There are a couple of basic reasons. Part of the reason for contracting without tender would be that we contract with sole suppliers and there is no alternative, so it may be a valid reason to contract without tender. In other circumstances, and they would be more significant in scale than the one I just mentioned, what we are seeing is a non-compliance with the requirement to use the procurement processes. That is something that both internal audit and procurement then seek to enforce. Indeed, the national financial controls assurance group I mentioned seeks to enforce proper compliance in local operating units of the HSE.

The Deputy asked if I was aware of any trips associated with HSE procurement and if I was aware of an individual company. I am aware of the name of the company but that is all. I would be happy to receive more detail from the Deputy. I have seen a reference to an employee of the Mater in the media, but I do not know any more than that at this stage. I will have to revert to the Deputy on the patient management system that was not tendered for. One valid possibility is that it is a sole supply and a single system already in place, but we would need to check and refer back to the Deputy. I will do that.

Did the HSE cut prices for all section 38 organisations? During the years of austerity the HSE imposed price freezes and negotiated price reductions across the entire environment, not just the voluntary sector.

I am not aware of some agencies being disadvantaged because others benefited. If there is more information on the matter then I would happily take it from the Deputy.