Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses and I wish Mr. Gunning the best of luck in his new role. He has achieved one thing today. He has justified the use of these two big screens for the first time in my career.

Listening to the witnesses over the past half an hour, one would wonder what we have all been worrying about since all this blew up. Based on what they have said it seems that everything is rosy in the garden, but it is not.

Sometimes I wonder whether many people have read the PwC report. I have read it in depth, as have most of my colleagues, and I re-read it before I came to the meeting. A great deal of information in the report needs to be followed up on, which is what I want to do now. Our guests will appear before the Committee of Public Accounts, of which Deputy O'Connell and I are members, in a couple of weeks. I have always believed that the layers of how the project is being managed are insane, as was noted in a recommendation of the Committee of Public Accounts. There are three layers, and there are the Department, the HSE and the Minister. It is insane. This is part of the original problem the board inherited. It should not continue. The layers need to contract.

Of the residual risks, Mr. Barry stated some are under control, while others are not, but that the latter are being monitored.