Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

As a general principle, obviously we will have more detail in relation to these matters, but it is not for me as the auditor to present additional detail. If I am presenting something, I will present it in the report. What I am trying to do here is to draw the committee's attention to these matters which it can then choose to pursue with the entity, either by writing to it and looking for additional information or by it appearing before the committee and giving further explanation.

On the claims, the paragraph in what is called the statement on internal control in the financial statements states, "During 2023, claims to the value of €250,000 were submitted to a private insurer for payment and were either rejected or are expected to be rejected on the basis that the fully collated claim forms as signed off by all participating parties or the queries arising thereon were not submitted nor addressed within the required timeframe in accordance with underlying agreements." My purpose is to draw members' attention to that statement and it gives them an opportunity to pursue it with the entity.

In relation to the chief executive, and it is a matter that would have been discussed at previous committees, settlements will typically have a non-disclosure clause in them. Children's Health Ireland was reluctant to make any disclosure in relation to either the fact or the content of that settlement. There is no further information in the financial statements on that. I have further information but it is not for me to give it to the committee. I have drawn attention to the fact that it is there and it is really for Children's Health Ireland to provide what further explanation it can give on the matter. As I said, a settlement in relation to any chief officer is a very significant matter and those that fund the organisation should be aware of it. If it were somebody at a lower level in the organisation, there is a process around settlements and I would not normally be drawing attention to that unless there were very specific circumstances, like, for example, that a significant settlement did not have proper sanction from the parent Department or from the Department of expenditure and reform which might be required in many cases.