Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

There is clear audit opinion in all cases. With regard to the Irish Blood Transfusion Service and the matter reported last year, the same situation was continuing but obviously the aggregates had become greater and I have drawn attention in the audit certificate to two notes relevant to this. Note 2 discloses that pension related deductions from staff salaries held by the Irish Blood Transfusion Service stood at €10.3 million on 31 December 2014 and had still not been remitted as of that date to the Department of Health. On the pension scheme side, the deficit shown by the Irish Blood Transfusion Service financial statements on 31 December 2014 had risen to €92 million from €42 million at the end of 2013.

The 2013 financial statements of the national paediatric hospital development board were listed for consideration today, but the financial statements for 2014 were signed on 1 October and have been submitted.