Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I see my own email included in the correspondence listed. I agree fully with Deputy David Cullinane. This committee purely discusses value for money related issues. Similar to Deputy David Cullinane, when the decision was made, if it was based on there being sufficient capacity, was there an examination of the scaling up of resources in the area of pathology, as opposed to having tests carried out abroad? Could that have been done in parallel in order that we could have saved money? We could be gearing up for other clinical programmes where there is already a lot of testing for various illnesses and there are plans for more. Was that done and, if so, what did it show? Was there a robust public procurement process to select the laboratories to be used? What assurances about the level of competence were given in selecting the laboratories? Did they form part of the procurement process criteria? What is the nature and terms of the contracts in place?

There has already been a cost to the State in legal fees, communications fees and other fees. We are only at the beginning of the crisis. Clearly, there are going to be substantially more costs. Within the contract, is the State eligible for compensation, as well as the individuals affected? I refer to the cost and fallout of the problem. The State will have to divvy up a huge amount of money, not just for redress but also for costs because this happened. Do we have any comeback against the laboratories if, in fact, they are responsible?

I heard some criticism in the media today that the body politic is, with manufactured anger, jumping up and down to try to deal with this process. However, if any of us can contribute in some small way to the very important need to restore confidence in testing and so on, we need to do so as quickly as possible. Quite separate from scoping, commissions of investigation and whatever else is happening, we should do so pretty quickly because once this process starts, whatever form it may take, the shutters will come down and there will be no information at all for the public. We have a small role on the value-for-money side that we could usefully fulfil, as Deputy Cullinane has said. Other committees will focus on other aspects according to their responsibilities, but we should fulfil our role.