Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

If I am wrong at any point, I ask Mr. O'Driscoll to correct me. It was a question of getting value for money. The Comptroller and Auditor General was highlighting that it was not going to procurement for private providers but that the Department was going through a process of inviting expressions of interest and so on before negotiating an agreement. He pointed out clearly in that chapter that the conditions or criteria necessary for the negotiated procedure were not in place. However, the Department proceeded with the negotiated procedure in any event and took issue with the Comptroller and Auditor General at the time. I believe those recommendations were made in 2015. What has changed since then? Has the Department changed its negotiated procedure?