David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

An additional point I forgot to mention was that if there is a conflict of interest, it can be managed if it is declared. There was no declaration here. I read the PwC report and it does not say anywhere that it provided high-level advice at an earlier stage in this project. It was not said. We had discussions at both this committee and the Joint Committee on Health and questions were asked about whether there was a conflict of interest. It was only later on, when the report was published, that we got the letter from Mr. Mitchell that stated there was a relationship between the company and the HSE. We found it out by accident, really. My point is that conflicts of interest arise, and they can be managed, but this was not managed or declared at any point before or during the process. It was only afterwards by accident, and by the good work of this committee, that we found out that there was a relationship there. I think it is a slam dunk in terms of it being a clear conflict of interest and the fact that it was not even managed by the company, the Department, or the HSE, is even worse.

It is problematic that this letter justifies it and states that there was no conflict of interest. If the Comptroller and Auditor General was doing a look-back on this he would look for correspondence from all sides. He can speak for himself but I imagine he would not accept this. I cannot see how it can be accepted that the Department does not see any conflict of interest. It is staggering.