Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. McCarthy for following up on the matter but there are a number of issues arising. The purpose of shared services was to achieve a cost saving and greater efficiency but, based on what we are hearing, that is being only partially achieved. It is supposed to be a shared services system but when one drills down into it in some cases it is and in others it is not. Last week, when we asked what organisations were covered we were told all Departments are covered and that the Oireachtas is the only organisation outside of it but there are other layers within the Departments that are not covered. For example, the Department of Justice and Equality is covered but An Garda Síochána and Army Pensions are not; the Department of Health might be covered but the HSE is not, and the Department of Education and Skills is covered but teachers and third level institutions are not. This tells us something about the shared services system, irrespective of the overpayments. Why did we set up this service and then not use it? It is not only the Oireachtas but many other organisations and agencies that are not covered. We need further information in regard to the move to shared services from a value for money perspective.

The Chairman mentioned that we do not have the full picture. Everybody could come before the committee and tell us only part of the story but what we need is the full picture. There are issues arising out of last weeks' meeting that we now need to interrogate further on the basis of the information that has been uncovered, which is frustrating for the committee. Are the underpayments visible in the Votes?