Results 8,741-8,760 of 11,359 for speaker:Matt Carthy

Written Answers — Department of Health: Departmental Bodies (21 Sep 2021)

Matt Carthy: 685. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 177 of 29 April 2021, the progress made in establishing an interdepartmental group with regard to the regulation of exotic animals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44757/21]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Animal Slaughtering (21 Sep 2021)

Matt Carthy: 686. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of cattle slaughtered from controlled finishing units in July and August 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44758/21]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Animal Diseases (21 Sep 2021)

Matt Carthy: 687. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the measures he has introduced since December 2020 to protect against the potential of African swine flu outbreaks in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44759/21]

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statement 2020 and Related Matters: HSE (16 Sep 2021)

Matt Carthy: I want to be associated with this committee's thanks to the staff of the HSE for their work on our behalf throughout the Covid emergency. I am going to deal with the issue of procurement but, before I do, I acknowledge that every member of this committee and every member of the public recognises that Covid presented unique challenges. Normal expectations did not apply but that did not...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statement 2020 and Related Matters: HSE (16 Sep 2021)

Matt Carthy: Do I take it from that reply that a review of 2019 procurement will not be carried out?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statement 2020 and Related Matters: HSE (16 Sep 2021)

Matt Carthy: Does Mr. Reid understand that 2019 is a good base year because it was a year that did not involve the Covid emergency? That review would, therefore, be important to be able to assess the real lie of the land.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statement 2020 and Related Matters: HSE (16 Sep 2021)

Matt Carthy: To be clear, we will never have a review of the procurement processes in the last full year pre-Covid. I know an €82 million computerised procurement system is being built. Do we have a timeframe for when this will be implemented across the entire HSE?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statement 2020 and Related Matters: HSE (16 Sep 2021)

Matt Carthy: Does Mr. Mulvany expect it to be within that budget of €82 million?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statement 2020 and Related Matters: HSE (16 Sep 2021)

Matt Carthy: In the 2020 procurement review, the HSE reported 91% procurement compliance but of course that encompassed the emergency procurement measures that were allowable as a result of the pandemic. What proportion of that 91% fell under emergency measures?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statement 2020 and Related Matters: HSE (16 Sep 2021)

Matt Carthy: We are told that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform raised concerns that some €1.25 billion that was spent by the HSE and had not been competitively procured could expose the State to legal action because it fell short of what was required under domestic and EU law. Do we have any sense of how many legal challenges are ongoing with regard to our procurement process?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statement 2020 and Related Matters: HSE (16 Sep 2021)

Matt Carthy: I will go back to Mr. Reid, if I may, a Chathaoirligh. There is a distinction then - we can hear this in the CFO's responses - between being non-compliant and being non-competitive, and that presents a number of particular challenges. When you are in a process that is non-competitive, I think there is a need for additional diligence, even when we are in the midst of an emergency. We know...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statement 2020 and Related Matters: HSE (16 Sep 2021)

Matt Carthy: I know. With due respect, I asked Mr. Reid whether or not any of that €81 million has been recouped. We accept the context.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statement 2020 and Related Matters: HSE (16 Sep 2021)

Matt Carthy: That was a very long time to get that specific answer, and I am trying to be specific in my questions. Were any of the companies involved used by the HSE before or engaged with before? Is this the first-----

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statement 2020 and Related Matters: HSE (16 Sep 2021)

Matt Carthy: There is an internal HSE document that identified risks with one particular vendor. In fact, of the nine parameters, three were deemed high-risk and there was a note in the document - this is prior to purchase - that there was a risk that expenditure of this magnitude would be wasted and that there were concerns about the quality of the machines. Did the HSE go to the effort of compiling a...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statement 2020 and Related Matters: HSE (16 Sep 2021)

Matt Carthy: Are any of the HSE guests aware of that case, involving Roqu? That internal document was widely reported. Is anybody aware of the specifics?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statement 2020 and Related Matters: HSE (16 Sep 2021)

Matt Carthy: Okay. I move on to hand sanitisers. We know the case of Viropro. We know there were some basic red flags. The material safety data sheet the HSE requested and received did not match what was on the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine's biological register. In another case, the vendor had not provided a number of the product on the register; rather, it gave an application...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statement 2020 and Related Matters: HSE (16 Sep 2021)

Matt Carthy: The HSE had already purchased the-----

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statement 2020 and Related Matters: HSE (16 Sep 2021)

Matt Carthy: I go back to the previous point where it was mentioned we could not get a response with regard to Roqu because of legal issues. No legal papers have been served yet. Is that correct?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statement 2020 and Related Matters: HSE (16 Sep 2021)

Matt Carthy: Is it commercial or legal?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statement 2020 and Related Matters: HSE (16 Sep 2021)

Matt Carthy: To clarify what my question was, I outlined what the HSE document identified with regard to this vendor and asked whether the HSE was aware of the internal document outlining that there was a risk that an expenditure of this magnitude would be wasted but continued with the purchase nevertheless. I do not think that would interfere would legal or commercial complexities.