David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We will, but I still think it merits a response in terms of the correspondence that came in separate from this meeting, so I would like to make a number of observations on it. The first is that this was never about individuals. I am not aware of what comments the Chairman made but any concerns that were raised, from recollection, were more about the process and conflicts of interest. The letter itself says that the Department does not see any conflict of interest arising from PwC's involvement in the service of the so-called high-level advice it gave. It then says there is no conflict between that and its role in carrying out a review into cost escalation. Underneath that, when it expands on what PwC was doing, it states that it was giving advice on the guaranteed maximum price report, or, to use its own words, "high-level advice". There seems to be a lack of understanding, at best, as to what constitutes a conflict of interest. A conflict of interest can arise if there is a perception of a conflict of interest, so if we are going to do an independent report it has to be completely at arm's length. I would imagine there should be no involvement in the project itself. PwC does work for the HSE and the Department of Health, but given that it had a high-level role at some point in the process, that should have precluded it from independently examining the process. That is a clear conflict as far as I am concerned. I will take this up with the Department, but I do not think the Department can write to the committee with any seriousness and say that it does not see any conflict of interest. Anybody who understands conflicts of interest would see that it is a glaringly obvious one, and should not have been allowed to happen. We have been saying time and again that there are a small number of these companies doing the rounds, getting all these jobs, giving advice on the one hand and then doing so-called independent reviews on the other, and it is not good for accountability, or for getting answers to the questions people want answered. While I have to say the PwC report was a good one and very much reflected what as in the Mazar's report in that it was not hugely different, I still think it is a conflict of interest. I do not accept the response from the Accounting Officer, but we will take that up with him.