Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for giving me the opportunity to come in again. Mr. Fitzgerald has said there are no unions in his workplace.

I would be interested in finding out whether that is a policy or whether it is simply because they are there.

My next question is for Mr. Nugent. We have discussed at length the differences between the public and the private sectors and we all acknowledge that nothing different is done in a hip operation in the public sector than one in the private sector. Obviously, there are efficiencies and savings that are made in the private sector that might not be made in the public sector. By way of exploring that, I appreciate that Mr. Nugent does not have the information to hand but could he provide the committee with details of pay rates, the numbers of staff by grade directly employed, the outsourcing of functions and the pension arrangements for staff? I am specifically interested in the pension arrangements for all staff. Like Mr. Fitzgerald, I have experience of both the public and private health care systems as a person who represented workers in both and I know that sometimes there can be differences in pensions. It concerns where the overheads are, where the money is going, the extent to which pension schemes exist, how they are funded, whether they are defined contribution or defined benefit and the grades and categories they are available to. Could the committee be provided with copies of the sick leave schemes or a synopsis of paid, unpaid and partially paid sick leave arrangements that would apply in hospitals? I am interested in this because, obviously, taxpayers' money goes into the private sector and, clearly, the Government has an obligation to spend that money in upholding good standards, including good employment standards. I am not suggesting that they are anything other than that. In respect of the Beacon Group and the statement by Mr. Fitzgerald about not having unions, I would be very interested to know if that is a policy or whether it is simply the way it is.