Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We were asked to come here last Thursday. Today is only Wednesday. The officials stopped what they were doing and worked through the weekend to provide the notes. I offered previously to come back. I have been a member of committees for many years. Deputy Durkan and I sat on the Oireachtas Committee on Health for many years together and I have had exactly the frustrations the Deputy has now.

As a result of that, a genuine effort was made to get more accessible information together. I acknowledge his frustrations. There is a wider issue of the reporting along heads and subheads against what is programmatic activity. The management accounting and financial accounting do not match up. They lead and have led, for many years, to this kind of problem. The solution is an integrated financial management system within the HSE in order that the Oireachtas, the Minister and the Department can have confidence the money is being spent programmatically in the way it is allocated. Good progress has been made on that system but there is still a way to go. I share some of the Deputy's frustrations.