Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Obviously, I have contact with some of these service providers, particularly at constituency level. It is more on the administrative side than me but I have overview of it all. I have yet to come across anyone who was bluntly and boldly told in writing to ignore HIQA. What they are supposed to do is agree a plan of action, not just with HIQA but with the funder, which is the HSE. It would not be right or reasonable for charities or even sections of the HSE to just go off and spend the money. There have been instances where bodies have gone off and simply spent a great deal of money before just presenting the bill. They say "We had to do this because we have to comply with HIQA" but when one goes through the bill, it is clear that they could have complied at a 20% or 50% lower cost in the view of the funder. The message should never be "Ignore the HIQA requirements", but equally the message should not be "Go off and spend whatever money you like on the basis that you have to comply with HIQA standards". A body has to agree something.