David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Chairman is correct when he states that the NTPF sets the prices, but what is disturbing about this note - noting the caveat it was sent to us anonymously - is that it suggests the chair of HIQA potentially was involved in discussions with private nursing homes where he could have been lobbying or seen to have been lobbying on their behalf, but also exploring ways in which the NTPF could be, to use the word that is in the document, "threatened" and courses of actions taken that would influence prices, and that is very serious. That is what is in the note. The Chairman is correct in terms of who sets the prices but it is very serious if one has the chair of HIQA involved in a discussion with private nursing homes around tactics that can be deployed to influence prices.