Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I made the point earlier and I am not looking for a response but the witnesses from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform know the issue about public bodies not submitting their audited accounts and they have now seen what the HSE has achieved regarding what was in the first instance a far more difficult situation because they were not directly submitting their accounts to the Oireachtas. If the HSE can do it, the Department can do it. The HSE probably had the facility of saying it was withholding 20% of funding until it got this. While we are not suggesting any cut in public funding, the Department should just think about it. I am not suggesting it. I am saying it seems to have worked right across the health sector, which is €4 billion of public expenditure for those organisations, and that principle seemed to have a good effect. Nobody suggested there was any cut to organisations' funding but it did put pressure on them to do it.

A couple of years ago, the Committee of Public Accounts dealt with issues regarding the Central Remedial Clinic, CRC, Rehab and St. John of God, as well as pay in different maternity and children's hospitals and executives not being paid in line with public sector pay policy. On the face of it, the HSE seems to have come a long way since then. Does Mr. O'Brien agree? Could he make a brief comment from his perspective as chief executive? What were the key ingredients? Is it as good as it sounds? Was it very difficult dealing with those organisations? The HSE seems to be close to a reasonably satisfactory situation. What were the lessons that should be learned for the public service?