Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 7 March 2019

Public Accounts Committee

Oversight and Implementation of Capital Projects and the Role of Public Officials on State Boards: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Office of Government Procurement

9:00 am

Photo of Catherine ConnollyCatherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I understand that. I highlight those minutes to show Mr. Watt that questions are being raised by the board about its design and other teams that were procured for their expertise under the new Government's model at great cost. Private contractors were brought in because of their expertise. There are ongoing issues relating to the new model. I wish to move to the issues explored by Deputy Kelly regarding the emails. It seems that the Department of Health was writing to Mr. Watt even earlier than was previously clear. On 17 October, an email was sent to Barry.O'Brien@per.gov.ie, who I presume is an official in Mr. Watt's Department. It states, "we spoke briefly a couple of weeks ago when I said we want to brief you on the current position" and so on. It refers to "potential cost issues emerging relating to the GMP" or guaranteed maximum price. The Department was clearly on notice of those issues on 17 October. Reference is made in the email to a previous meeting. Am I not making the question clear?

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