Mr. Stephen Mulvany:

As the director general said earlier, compliance with procurement is a challenge that the HSE is trying to address within its own statutory services. We have made it clear that our contracting arrangements cover publicly funded voluntary bodies, including section 38 bodies. Our support is available for them. We are taking practical steps to provide more access to our contracts, to training, and to other supports in order that it is more practical for both section 39 bodies, particularly larger ones, and section 38 bodies, to use our overall shared procurement service. The one voice procurement policy is part of Government policy. We are on a three-year journey to get to the stage where we can have a very significant and good-quality level of public procurement compliance, and we are looking to bring the section 38 and 39 bodies that are not already there to that point. Some already have good practices in that area. We are trying to improve their procurement compliance, remembering that our primary interest in section 38 and section 39 bodies has to and always will be the quality and safety of service that they deliver. Procurement is part of that.