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

I remember well the context because I proposed the approach. It was in the context of discussing the national children's hospital overrun that we considered how the process could lead to a repeat of the difficulties in other projects if we did not have some understanding of what happened. It was surely around process. In fact, it was not only the Secretary General we invited. We also specifically made the request to the person who headed up the procurement section. Essentially, it appeared that there was quite rigorous oversight on procurement from that section when it came to purchasing things. We need to understand that role from the point of view of big capital projects. There appears to be a gap in our scrutiny from an institutional point of view, and the idea is to tease out that particular aspect. It is critical not only that Mr. Watt comes before the committee but that we understand this from the broader perspective. We also need to understand it from the perspective of the head of the procurement office. If there is an institutional gap, then there is a process failure and it cannot but repeat itself. It is both.