Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)

I will finish while I am in full flight. Were conflict of interest safeguards in place when contracts were awarded to firms linked with former HIQA board members? In regard to transparency, will HIQA commit to publishing all board minutes, procurement, reviews and audit findings related to agency staffing, governance and ICT spending? There was a subsequent programme on RTÉ. It gave the impression of putting out a front regarding inspections. There was a reference to falling asleep, to be sure to be awake at night in the event of inspections, and that things would revert back to normal when the heat passed. I am extremely concerned. Will there be any change? I said before at meetings a very good friend of mine passed away recently.

He said to me once, "If you hear I am being put in a nursing home, please shoot me". Those words came roaring back to me after what we saw on national TV recently. Our senior citizens deserve better. They have worked hard and they deserve better. They are afraid of going into nursing homes. We are all afraid now.

Finally, I requested that representatives of those companies would be invited before the committee. Private companies account for 10,600 beds today-----