Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

The Taoiseach did not answer any of the questions I asked. Why was this contract signed on the basis of oral sanction only? Why was it signed on a Saturday? Why was it necessary to have high level emergency meetings between officials from the Department of the Taoiseach, the Attorney General's office, the HSE and the Department of Health and Children with regard to it being signed? Why, if the Department of Finance gave oral sanction to purchase these two software packages, has the same Department refused the roll-out of the Lorenzo package?

We have witnessed an obscene wastage of public money, particularly in the Department of Health and Children. General practitioners protested yesterday outside Tralee hospital in Tralee at the lack of beds and that 10,000 operations were cancelled this year. Will the Taoiseach, in answering these questions, assure me that the Government was not put under pressure by iSoft to sign this contract on or before 30 April? Will he assure the House that the apparent rush to sign the contract on 30 April was in no way related to the fact that iSoft's financial year ended on 30 April?

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