Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

I would like to respond to Deputy Bobby Aylward's comments. An audit is retrospective; it is an exercise in looking back. We are very careful to ensure we do not try to become involved in making decisions. If we are involved in the making of decisions, we cannot be independent when looking back at such matters. The Chairman has referred to previous large capital programmes on which there were cost overruns. The lessons from these cases need to be learned and rolled back into all other projects. This is not the first time we have heard about or seen large escalations in costs in the case of a hospital or a large capital project and it is certainly something at which I will be looking, but that does not prevent the committee from asking the board to come in in the meantime to discuss its financial statements for 2015, for example. That would enable the committee to receive an update on the progress being made.