Mr. Stephen Mulvany:

We are at the stage where we have three key actions around our finance systems. If one thinks about it, any financial system the HSE is going to have which we also want to use for our bigger funded agencies will have about 10,000 users; therefore, it is a large undertaking. If one takes three key work streams, in the next year we see ourselves as being able to upgrade significantly what we call our business intelligence reporting tools. As the Deputy can imagine, there are many old legal systems, from which we are drawing information using what is quite an old reporting tool. We intend in the next year to upgrade it when we will have greater and quicker access to some of our data. At the same time, we are making progress in seeking approval around the single large national and financial procurement system. We will spend the next year, once we get approval, going through the procurement process which is obviously necessary for an investment of this scale. Projects of this nature need to be approved by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer. If they are large enough, as this one is, one requires what is called a peer review by an appointed panel. We had the business case meeting with it last week and would say it was quite positive. We are hopeful of receiving approval in the next while from what is, in effect, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to actually go to tender for the new national system. We are already working with the Office of Government Procurement on the preliminary stages. As I said, the tendering process, unfortunately, will take most of a year to complete.

At the same time - this is the third piece - we are seeking to do the following. We have a number of quite old legacy systems, particularly from the five former health boards across the western seaboard, the south and south east. Our intent in the next couple of years, using our existing frameworks, is to upgrade these systems to make them safe and at least have a single platform. That will take us about two years to complete, until the end of 2017 or early 2018. We will then move, subject to necessary approval and the allocation of funding, to a single national financial system. This will take in the order of five years to complete. I think the Secretary General mentioned a period of five to eight years. We hope to be in and out in around five years and will do so in less time, if we can. What we are trying to demonstrate is that we will see improvements in the next year when we improve the reporting system. We will see greater safety in stabilising the existing five legal systems along the western seaboard and in the southern part of the country. At the same time we hope that by the end of next year we will have completed the procurement process and selected the overall platform to be used to enable us to drive on to a single integrated national financial system. It is a painful process; it has been difficult in the past few years, but our sense now is that we are very well connected with colleagues in the Department of Health and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and that there is a governance process stretching to all three. I am satisfied that we will get approval and move forward.