Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will not suggest anything. I know that sometimes the right hand side of the room is a bit difficult to see. An improvement in the Acting Chairman's peripheral vision is needed. Two questions come to mind. First, Dr. Scally made an interesting reference a few minutes ago in respect of the chain of command. This is something we have raised at these meetings on many occasions. Is there a chain of command? To what extent does it work? It used to be a product of the old health boards. In the health boards there was a programme manager who was responsible for a series of issues and protocols. He or she was regularly held responsible for those. I believe that has disappeared and does not exist any more.

The other question that comes to mind, to which reference has already been made, relates to tendering. I used to be a kind of half-expert on tendering once upon a time and in a different capacity. To what extent did visits take place to the laboratories that were likely to tender? Were all laboratories visited? Were the terms set out in the tender documents such as to ensure that all possibilities were catered for in the future, including the issues about ISO standards and so on? Whenever I see reference to tendering I get uneasy. It is a feeling which has affected me on many occasions in the past. I wonder about that. Are there grounds for optimism in respect of the tendering process? How was it gone about? Who actually promoted it? Who was in charge of it? How were the tenders opened? Were they opened in public? Perhaps Dr. Scally would like to comment on those issues.