Ms Laverne McGuinness:

Deputy Ó Caoláin is correct about the procurement issue for the west-north-west hospital group. The financial regulations set out that three quotes must be obtained for procurement up to €25,000 and that did not happen in this case. The HSE does not consider that this was acceptable practice and the director general took strong action by asking the internal auditor to carry out a review. He wrote a stern letter to the group chief executive officer, CEO, and the chairman. The audit review was carried out and the group CEO gave the rationale that an urgent procurement issue arose due to recent maternity deaths but nothing was set out at the time to support this. He was not aware at the time of the 50% shareholding held by the chairman as it had not been disclosed, though the chairman had resigned as a director. The group CEO has confirmed he will comply with all future procurement requirements, as set out in our financial regulations. I am not aware of a pre-meeting but the chairman was given the opportunity to absent himself from the meeting and it was decided there was no conflict of interest. Clearly the 50% shareholding meant there was a conflict of interest and the chairman subsequently resigned.

The recommendations have been accepted in full by the group CEO and the new chairman and a register will be maintained of any conflicts of interest, which is common practice in the HSE directorate and board structure. The financial regulations are currently under review and the recommendations will be taken on board by the chief financial officer, CFO.