Ms Eilísh Hardiman:

I thank the Senator. I will endeavour to answer. First, I reiterate the apologies for all of the hurt or harm that has been caused and the stress to families. I was before the previous health committee on this matter and I reiterate my position.

To work through the questions, I will begin with the issue of procurement. It has been identified, through the HIQA report, that the springs did not come in through the procurement process. There is a procurement process and what occurred was outside that. Since then, we have improved the procurement processes so what happened cannot happen again. The controls have been put in on the procurement side of things but also in relation to our processes within our theatres. More important, medical devices committees and structures have been put in place within CHI because we fully accepted the reports from HIQA. I believe we are at a strong standard, and assurance can be given, through Ms Nugent, that the processes are in place.