Chairman:

I suggest that the committee keep an eye on this and follow up on these figures because it is a really serious issue and involves a big spend. The HSE is a big employer, as Deputy Dillon said. The amounts of money involved are huge, and 14 years is not good enough. We will pursue this with the HSE, request further information as to why it is not able to do this and point out that we are not happy about the fact that it has been flagged up for ten years and that it will be four more years before the HSE gets it in place. Even at that, we need to ask why there will be only 80% compliance with proper procurement practices. We will see what the response is. Following that, we will need to get representatives of the HSE in before the committee to address this. I think we need to have a specific session on this if that is agreed by the committee. That is agreed.

The next item of correspondence that has been flagged is No. 002 B, from Mr. Maurice Buckley, chairman of the Office of Public Works, dated 27 January, providing an information note requested by the committee on the number of contracts that were non-compliant with procurement guidelines in 2018, the amount of each and the reason for non-compliance. Deputy Munster has indicated that she wishes to discuss this briefly.