Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It did not come from him as an individual or as a member of the hospital development board. It came on the headed paper of the Office of Government Procurement. He made a number of assertions in that written correspondence, which I personally would have liked to have tested today given that he is the person in charge of Government procurement. As far as I am concerned, this is the meeting where that evidence should have been tested because we are dealing with major capital projects - tendering and procurement.

Mr. Quinn is the person who has the answers to those questions. It is unfortunate that we are not able to test evidence from a witness who has given written evidence to the committee. Mr. Watt will have to explain why he did not choose to bring Mr. Quinn to this meeting. I hope for Mr. Watt's sake that he has all of the answers to the questions we are going to be asking. If he does not, it was he who decided that the very person who does have those answers was not needed. That was a judgment call on Mr. Watt's behalf and it remains to be seen whether that was a good decision. We will know that at the end of the proceedings today.