David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Good morning to all our witnesses. I apologise for not being here for their opening statements. I was speaking in the Chamber. I ask that this committee be afforded a briefing on the RHAs as soon as it is appropriate. We have had two constructive meetings. I was impressed with Mr. Gloster's contribution last week and the direction of travel in which he sees RHAs going. When there is something to report, and more concrete proposals, we might have that briefing. That would be useful.

I will put something to Mr. Watt. It is very frustrating when Opposition spokespeople try to get what I consider basic information from the Minister through a parliamentary question and the response is that the question cannot be answered. I will cite the question I asked first, namely, whether the HSE could outline the amount of money spent "on private medical and other healthcare services for public patients for each year 2013 to 2022". The response I got from the HSE stated that, having reviewed this matter further and engaged with colleagues at national, regional and local level, regrettably, this information is not readily available in a standardised or comparable format. It further stated that the shortcomings in HSE legacy systems are well acknowledged and the replacement by a single, standard financial system in the health service is at the core of the finance reform programme initiated by the Department of Health. It is staggering I cannot be told how much taxpayers' money is being spent on private healthcare outsourcing. It amazes me that information cannot be collated. I engaged with the people who responded to me and they say they just cannot collate the information. Can that information be made available?