Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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There are very specific questions and perhaps Mr. McCallion has a different answer from what is on MedLab's website. In May 2010, the company was awarded a contract but it did not receive its ISO accreditation until 2011. I am wondering whether between May 2010 and December 2011, there was a laboratory in Dublin operating without ISO accreditation. Was there ISO accreditation for a specific test?

There were two tender documents for bowel screening. A colleague asked questions over the summer about this. The proper tender document has no mention of ISO accreditation. The answer provided by the national screening service was that this is catered for in the pre-qualification questionnaire but there is no mention of it there. Is it a case of the cart being put before the horse? Should accreditation be gained before applying for a contract or are companies winning contracts before they have accreditation? It seems a bit strange that accreditation would come down the track.