Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Reviews of all section 38 providers are being conducted by external consultants. These are under way by the Department of Health at present. The purpose of these reviews is to establish the standard of governance in place in these organisations and to confirm independently the very points raised by the Deputy, that governance practice and procedures accord with those set out in the respective annual compliance statements. The reviews involve an examination of key governance processes and documents, including obtaining confirmation that internal financial controls and written financial procedures are in place in these organisations. Six of these reviews are under way and their outcomes will inform the HSE's relationship with the agencies concerned and any further enhancements needed in the overall governance framework.

The HSE provides funding in return for services to 40 agencies under section 38 and to a much wider group under the other section the Deputy raised, which is section 39.

The value of these relationships in terms of the money given by the Government is in the hundreds of millions. The history has been that, to begin with, they were rather informal arrangements, but we have now moved to a point where they are far more formalised and, as the Deputy said, quite a number of changes in governance have been made. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform spoke earlier this morning about the payments made to the CEOs of section 39 bodies and the need to examine them to see if they were in line with the FEMPI legislation. Regarding the agencies about which the Deputy has spoken, the Minister is following up as we speak.

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