Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Mr. Watt is not alone. I believe 11,000 people are caught in this situation. Many who contact my office are not aware of why it is happening. We all understand the cyberattack had a crippling impact on the HSE's ability to administer data and its IT systems. The idea that private companies are now making services available to register services outside of Dublin is a concern. They are providing that service to people in Dublin at a cost above what the State charges so that they can effectively queue in an office outside Dublin which has lower demand. That is a significant failure of the State. I appreciate it is a delegated function of the HSE. I ask Mr. Watt to take from this meeting the idea that we need to examine what is happening here. The Department needs to set targets for when the HSE should have deaths and births registered. When it falls below them, there should be penalties. I imagine, from what Mr. Watt is saying, there is no specific service level agreement for this area. Are any specific targets set? Does the Department give the HSE any specific measurements regarding the administration of this function?