Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The question I asked Mr. Gunning was about the reasoning behind it. The difference is that there are no competitors. This is about public information, accountability and transparency for the spending of public moneys. As Mr. Gunning is going to persist in not giving me an answer, I will not persist in asking him on that basis but I believe there is an absolute obfuscation in respect of the board's accountability to this committee and to the committee to which the board is answerable. The board members did not give the information to that committee either. There is a serious transparency issue here. Having been in business for 30 years, I do not for a moment accept the stance of the board on the broad interpretation of commercial sensitivity. Mr. Gunning must at some point understand the impact of an overspend not being revealed to this committee and to the electorate in general on the basis of capital infrastructure projects. That is the reason we are asking about the impact on the public purse if there is a significant overspend and the impact on other health projects that are badly needed.

I have other questions relating to the structure of the board. Are we still three board members short?