Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes. I have a brief question to seek the Minister of State's advice on a matter. I have had instances brought to my attention where home care support for a child with a disability and particular needs has been tendered out and the successful company providing that service will deliver it for a while and then question whether it is delivering the tender, or that what it is delivering goes beyond the scope of what it thought it was tendering for, or it will start disputing the number of hours. I have had a few of those instances raised with me in the past fortnight where there is that repeated pattern. It is not the same company so I cannot say it is a change of personnel in it or whatever. I am curious to know, first, how and why that is happening and, second, what does a parent do in that situation? What autonomy and power have they and us as public representatives? I am happy to meet the company and show it its tender document and what it was supposed to be delivering, but the point of contact is not always consistent within the HSE for that family or is non-existent in one of the instances with which I am dealing. With respect to oversight, quality assurance, delivery assurance and the value for money on the part of the State, what audit process and accountability process do we have in place for that?