Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We all want to see the hospital up and running and I wish the witnesses all the best in that regard. We want moneys to be used efficiently so that so everyone can access a public health service. That is why we are here. The background to this is before my time but I understand the previous Committee of Public Accounts was assured that what happened before would never happen again. Not alone has it happened again but it is just as bad as the first time. I understand €30 million or €35 million was written off on the previous occasion and now we are dealing with the same issue again. I do not need photographs of construction sites but I do need to know the cost of the overall project and when mistakes are made and that the witnesses are learning from those mistakes. It is totally unacceptable to have that level of spending on the services of a public relations company. It is an absolute waste of taxpayers' money. The witnesses are here for the purposes of accountability. Our work should be done in a polite way and none of our questions should be put in a personalised fashion. However, the witnesses must be held to account at this committee and every committee before which they appear. They do not need to consult a public relations company for that purpose. There is something seriously wrong if they are resorting to that and, in this instance, they were ill advised on the question of producing photographs.

Mr. Gunning has undertaken to provide the committee with a breakdown of spending under the heading of communications and community engagement. Spending on other professional fees was €793,000 in 2018, which is a huge jump as far as I can see. What does that expenditure include? Does it include fees for external bodies?