Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is regrettable under the circumstances given the outcome.

I will talk very briefly about procurement before I move on to Oberstown. From my experience, I have no doubt that every single Department and body that has appeared before this committee over many years has had procurement issues, overruns, underestimations, instances of non-compliance with procurement rules, instances of not advertising in the appropriate journals, etc. I am not going to refer specifically to any issues that are highlighted. As a new Department only in existence since 2011, with its wealth of collective knowledge and examples of other Departments repeatedly not having proper information trails concerning the procurement of goods and services, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs should take a really deep look at how it and its agencies operate and procure goods and services. I highlighted this last year at a meeting of the Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs. It is really important, particularly for a new Department, to be able to stand up and say there are issues pertaining only to small contracts, as in forgetting to put the cleaning contract out to tender, rather than something bigger. It is a matter of credibility at meetings of this committee and the Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs.

I wish to move on to the subject of Oberstown. In fairness to Deputy Cassells, he covered a lot of the ground highlighted to us, and did so very well. When I took over the chairmanship of the children's committee, I visited Oberstown. This, of course, goes to the capital-----