Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 16 December 2021

Public Accounts Committee

2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 38 - Health

9:30 am

Photo of Imelda MunsterImelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Mr. Watt has refused point-blank today to furnish us with the report confidentially. That is not about it being made public. He said that once he got the report, which he has had since May, he would be able to discuss updated costings once the report was completed. Now we have him stating point-blank on the public record that he will not publish the report because of sensitivities, which is fair enough. We then ask whether he will furnish us with it confidentially and he says point-blank "No". I wanted clarification on that just for the record. He is refusing that.

I will move on to nursing homes. I have raised this issue with the HSE previously. Elderly people in nursing homes are being exploited by being charged for items and services such as bed sore creams, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and painkillers that they would normally access free of charge if they were living in the community. The HSE advised the committee that it has engaged with the Department about this issue. I received a freedom of information response telling me that the HSE had said that there is no doubt that this is an issue but that it was limited in what it could do. Has the HSE expressed that concern to the Department?

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