John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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In term of the expenditure for next year, there are 15 different cost centres and an application has been made to the Department. I questioned Mr. Watt when he was before the committee the last day and we asked for a response. It took him a considerable length of time to get together a paragraph to explain that there is a business plan being put together. Why has it taken all that time to get to the point where the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has encouraged the HSE to introduce a single business coding system and so on and still it is not dealt with? The members find it frustrating that they cannot get answers on the analysis of various issues or problems that might arise and we are told it is down to the computer system, the 15 different centres and yet, as a big business, the HSE made an application to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform sometime early this year and it is still not dealt with.

What is the reason for the delay when the people in the HSE accounts section - I do not say it is Mr. Byrne, but other people who were in place before him - assured us that a system had been identified which was not so much off-the-shelf but could be purchased and put into effect immediately?