Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the director general of the HSE and the other witnesses. As Deputy Connolly said, three specific items are being addressed in terms of the clarification that has been provided by the HSE. However, in our discussions this morning, we must remember that these are three specific items concerning the care of a human being. That sometimes gets forgotten in the context of these debates. I must say at the outset that this committee by its very nature is not one given to emotion, as can be seen at this or any other meeting, but the passion of the whistleblower when she addressed us last month is something that should have been heard by Mr. O'Brien. Indeed, I would have loved all senior managers in Departments to have heard her. Despite all the adverse circumstances she faced, she showed no bitterness but instead showed resilience and professional determination. She reminded all of us that the person in question, Grace, feels loved and knows love. That is sometimes forgotten when we are discussing facts, figures, underpayments and so forth. I just wanted to put that on the record.

I will now turn to that funding issue, which is the first point on the correspondence. It is a simple question as to whether there had been underfunding or a cut to the funding of the service provider since 2010, but it is amazing how long it took to get to an acknowledgement of that fact from the HSE. Even at that, the language used is not precise. The HSE refers to an acknowledgement that the funding was "not sufficient". It does not refer to a cut or to underfunding. Why did the HSE go to war with this small agency, which it will not name, in terms of underfunding?