David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

People are trying to make reasonable assumptions and form an opinion based on what they see before them, and what they see before them in this letter is very clear and specific in terms of its details, commitments and timeframes. At no point does it say "subject to ministerial approval" or "subject to an Estimates process". I do not know whether the Health Research Board would have needed to give approval.

It was not, it seems, informed about the process. It knew nothing about this. Many people were kept in the dark, including the organisation that would have to be a conduit for the funding, the Minister for Health, other Secretaries General and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. Mr. Watt has stated that at some point the Minister would have been informed. Earlier, I talked Mr. Watt through the timeframe. On 25 March, when the announcement was made that the CMO was taking up this post, the Minister for Health was not informed of the €2 million and, on 6 April, when on "Morning Ireland" he was also not informed of the funding at that point. Given all of that, did the Minister for Health ever say to Mr. Watt in conversations: "I should have been informed, I am disappointed; I am not pleased or happy with the fact that I was not informed of the details."?