Mr. Bernard Gloster:

I will let Mr. McCallion explain the actual device. In fairness, I was not here, as CEO, at the time, but I have to own that on behalf of the organisation. It came about because there is a constant push that the HSE is too slow to embrace new technology. We were told you could go to the Netherlands and buy a software package off the shelf that would run everything for us and it would be great. You can see what happens when we buy off the shelf. There are reasons why due diligence is applied to public sector technology projects. It was in the unique circumstances of Covid. It was absolutely well motivated. I am not aware of any conflicts of interest on the part of any of the people who were involved in bringing it into the organisation.

In real simple terms for the public to understand, we were buying sensors that are used to monitor people. Those sensors have a shelf life of a couple of days. The people who were paying the invoice were not checking if the sensors were being drawn down from the company to be used at the rate at which we were paying for them. As a result, we ended up paying for more censors than we actually received or drew down. When the company went to the wall, there were no censors and no money. That might sound almost trite, but that is the most brutally honest way I can describe it. The system just broke down.