John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would make the case to Mr. Watt that this is not just about the money. He is using figures such as €77 million, €150 million and so forth but for almost a year now we have been dealing with the HSE and the way it awards contracts. In many cases there is a lack of competitive tendering. The cases we have been dealing with involve allegations of very serious child abuse and what we have found is that the HSE was awarding contracts, without competition, to former HSE employees. The executive has been dragged, kicking and screaming into changing that process. No offence to Mr. Quinn, but this was happening under the nose of his office and that of Mr. Watt's Department. The only reason we have got to the point now where proposals have been put down on paper is because we pursued the issue relentlessly for the past year. It took the HSE an awful long time to admit to something that was known about for a considerable period. It is not just about the money. In the cases we dealt with, the exposure to conflict of interest was massive and the seriousness of the issues was enormous.