Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Unfortunately, that is not how it worked out. During Leaders' Questions, we raised the issue of the sale of Siteserv. It is interesting that it has taken so long for very basic details to come out. The Comptroller and Auditor General will not be able to deal with all aspects of the concerns the civil servants in the Department of Finance had, particularly the decision to allow the same process to be run by Siteserv's advisers, the timing of the exclusivity period when there were other bids outstanding, the decision to exclude trade buyers from the process and the payment of €5 million to existing shareholders. The Taoiseach proposes to have a very narrow framework for an inquiry into one aspect of the deal, whereas the material from the Department of Finance cries out for far more transparency regarding how this was conducted. There was concern at the large number of transactions that have been poorly executed by IBRC. I did not say this; the civil servants at the Department of Finance said it. It is a very grave and serious issue and, with the greatest respect, the Taoiseach has been trying to play politics with it this morning to far too great a degree. All I asked for was a proper independent inquiry at one remove from everybody so the public can have confidence in what did or did not happen. The Minister did not pursue such an independent review, and we do not know why, other than that the chairman, Alan Dukes, persuaded him not to go ahead with an independent review. We are in an appalling situation. In the name of the programme for Government, does the Taoiseach intend to have complete transparency on the issue and the concerns of the Department of Finance?

When will the Government publish the international evidence review on independent hospital trusts undertaken by the health research board at the request of the Department of Health? The new children's hospital establishment Bill is meant to establish a statutory body to provide paediatric acute services in Dublin at the new children's hospital, taking over the services currently provided by Our Lady's Hospital in Crumlin, Temple Street and the paediatric services in Tallaght Hospital. When will the Bill be published?

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