David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am glad Mr. O'Brien clarified that. He has at least clarified the original question he was asked by Deputy Deasy, notwithstanding Mr. O'Brien's contention that he had a view that the Deputy was talking about other people or at least that Mr. O'Brien had different people in his mind, which is hard to understand. Anyway, we have dealt with that now. I have two simple, direct questions for Mr. O'Brien before I conclude, as I want to let other people in. I still find it hard to understand and it beggars belief that so much time passed from the point the Devine report was furnished to the HSE and the time Mr. O'Brien says today a decision was made in February 2015 to put in place or in train a query to An Garda Síochána as to whether the HSE could publish the report. It is incredible it was not done before then. From 2012 to that date, the report sat on a shelf. The reason it sat on a shelf is because the HSE let it sit on a shelf. That chimes with what many people allege, which is that there was a cover-up within the HSE, because they cannot understand why the report was not published. Mr. O'Brien says the report was not published because of standard practice but that is not what he said when he was before the committee in the past. I want him clearly to answer the question as to why he did not seek the advice of An Garda Síochána prior to March 2015 and why the report was left sitting on a shelf for that time period.

My second question relates to the funding issue that was asked about recently. My understanding is that there has been no contact within the local office of the HSE and the service providers. If that is inaccurate, can Mr. O'Brien point out the level of interaction and engagement with the local office and the service providers in question with regard to funding and whether there is still an outstanding issue or dispute regarding the funding? Specifically, I ask about the contact between the local office and the service providers. Those are two clear questions and I will finish on that.