Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

I suspect that the people who were in contact with Deputy Kenny have also been in contact with me. As a result of that, I have ordered that the HSE must get the approval of the Departments of Finance and Health and Children before it proceeds to tender on this project. Any information project in the health area which has not already been committed will have to go through a process of thorough evaluation.

Now that we have a single organisation and somebody with responsibility for information technology and extensive experience in the health area, single lines of accountability will hopefully avoid situations where unnecessary public investment is made in projects that do not satisfy our needs.

Everybody would acknowledge that it is desirable to have a single site where information can be accessed. Why is it so difficult to be able to specify the technology? Accenture is a reputable company and it completed the scoping. IBM is also a reputable company and it produced the technology. Notwithstanding that fact, the project had to be suspended in February and that is why it has re-tendered. I assure Deputy Kenny that I will ensure that the tender is completed in an open, fair and transparent manner for all participants.

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