Results 1-20 of 924 for speaker:James Geoghegan

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Children's Health Ireland
Financial Statements - National Treatment Purchase Fund (3 Jul 2025)

James Geoghegan: I thank the witnesses for attending. Ms Nugent said that in hindsight, CHI should have engaged with the Comptroller and Auditor General and the NTPF on these issues. Ms Hardiman has confirmed that the report was not furnished to the HSE and mentioned the loose language that was used in a letter to the Minister for Health regarding the level of engagement with the HSE on the matters...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Children's Health Ireland
Financial Statements - National Treatment Purchase Fund (3 Jul 2025)

James Geoghegan: Yes.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Children's Health Ireland
Financial Statements - National Treatment Purchase Fund (3 Jul 2025)

James Geoghegan: Regarding the Garda referral, Ms Nugent is familiar with what the threshold is for referral. I presume it is under the Criminal Justice Act 2011. Ms Nugent has said that CHI should have referred it to the Comptroller and Auditor General, the NTPF and the HSE. Should it have referred it to An Garda Síochána as well?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Children's Health Ireland
Financial Statements - National Treatment Purchase Fund (3 Jul 2025)

James Geoghegan: Just to be clear, it is the job of An Garda Síochána to investigate matters. There is a report and the threshold is exceptionally low. Ms Nugent has been very clear, in hindsight, on the others. Should it have been referred to An Garda Síochána, all things being equal, right now.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Children's Health Ireland
Financial Statements - National Treatment Purchase Fund (3 Jul 2025)

James Geoghegan: I am not talking about the legal advice. I am asking Ms Nugent's opinion. It is not about legal advice. It is about the facts on the reports, the information in front of Ms Nugent. She has been exceptionally clear that more should have been done in every other entity. What about An Garda Síochána? What is Ms Nugent's own view?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Children's Health Ireland
Financial Statements - National Treatment Purchase Fund (3 Jul 2025)

James Geoghegan: That is not the question. Should the report have been referred to An Garda Síochána or not? Yes or no?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Children's Health Ireland
Financial Statements - National Treatment Purchase Fund (3 Jul 2025)

James Geoghegan: That is not my question. It is really a yes-no question. Should it have been referred or not? The witness has been very clear-----

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Children's Health Ireland
Financial Statements - National Treatment Purchase Fund (3 Jul 2025)

James Geoghegan: No, it should not have been referred. Okay. It is a bit of a whitewash in terms of the approach adopted under Ms Hardiman's reign in respect of all of these issues. The current CEO has made clear a whole host of entities were not appropriately engaged with, leaving aside the Garda Síochána issue. Why did Ms Hardiman commission this report in the first instance?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Children's Health Ireland
Financial Statements - National Treatment Purchase Fund (3 Jul 2025)

James Geoghegan: Okay, but factually, you were nervous about something going on in the hospital. You got a whiff of something and you proceeded with an examination. Is that right? I only have a limited amount of time.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Children's Health Ireland
Financial Statements - National Treatment Purchase Fund (3 Jul 2025)

James Geoghegan: The report was concluded and according to the information supplied to us today, it was presented to an ad hoc meeting of the board. Instead of the ordinary meetings of the board-----

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Children's Health Ireland
Financial Statements - National Treatment Purchase Fund (3 Jul 2025)

James Geoghegan: The board specially convened. Was it just to examine the full report or what did the board do? There are some reference to a report of the report. Was it the full report the board examined on that date?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Children's Health Ireland
Financial Statements - National Treatment Purchase Fund (3 Jul 2025)

James Geoghegan: Did the witness or the board have a view as to what level of engagement from that moment on should have taken place with the NTPF, the C and AG, the HSE or An Garda Síochána?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Children's Health Ireland
Financial Statements - National Treatment Purchase Fund (3 Jul 2025)

James Geoghegan: That is not the question. My question is really clear. On those four entities, did the board have a discussion asking whether the board should tell the HSE or the NTPF more about this? Did it have a discussion on whether it should it be discussed with the C and AG and whether there should be a Garda referral?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Children's Health Ireland
Financial Statements - National Treatment Purchase Fund (3 Jul 2025)

James Geoghegan: They were not even discussed or deliberated.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Children's Health Ireland
Financial Statements - National Treatment Purchase Fund (3 Jul 2025)

James Geoghegan: In Ms Hardiman's testimony today she implied it was an obligation of the interim CEO to fully brief Ms Nugent, the new CEO, in respect of this internal report which she only became aware of because of media coverage. Was the interim CEO fully aware of this report and its contents and had Ms Hardiman discussed this with her?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Children's Health Ireland
Financial Statements - National Treatment Purchase Fund (3 Jul 2025)

James Geoghegan: Why then did Ms Hardiman imply it was the interim CEO's responsibility to brief Ms Nugent?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Children's Health Ireland
Financial Statements - National Treatment Purchase Fund (3 Jul 2025)

James Geoghegan: How could Ms Nugent possibly have known about this issue? Other than Ms Hardiman, who could have informed here about these issues?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Children's Health Ireland
Financial Statements - National Treatment Purchase Fund (3 Jul 2025)

James Geoghegan: This is with the benefit of hindsight but that is what we are here to do. Clearly, Ms Hardiman's intentions were good in terms of trying to identify challenges within the culture and this individual but the outworkings of the report produced a whole other host of stuff that the CHI effectively just ignored. It did not carry out any further due diligence on the issues of the NTPF. It is...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Children's Health Ireland
Financial Statements - National Treatment Purchase Fund (3 Jul 2025)

James Geoghegan: I accept that.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Children's Health Ireland
Financial Statements - National Treatment Purchase Fund (3 Jul 2025)

James Geoghegan: Why not tell the parents of these children who did not get the treatments when they should have? Why not just do that?