Results 10,161-10,180 of 26,430 for speaker:David Cullinane
- Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Use of Private Hospitals (Resumed) (2 Jun 2020)
David Cullinane: Did Mr. Breslin hear the testimony from the Irish Medical Organisation, IMO, and the Irish Hospital Consultants Association, IHCA, this morning? To paraphrase the IHCA, the agreement was a bad deal, bad value for money and there was no plan for underutilised capacity. Having read Mr. Breslin's opening statement and heard what he said, I presume he does not agree with that statement.
- Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Use of Private Hospitals (Resumed) (2 Jun 2020)
David Cullinane: Mr. Varley, the head of the IHCA, said, "the test of time has confirmed that the private hospital agreement, which is costing approximately €115 million per month, represents poor value for money from patient care and taxpayer perspectives." Again, I assume Mr. Breslin does not agree with that.
- Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Use of Private Hospitals (Resumed) (2 Jun 2020)
David Cullinane: We will get to that in a second. First, I assume Mr. Breslin does not agree with that statement?
- Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Use of Private Hospitals (Resumed) (2 Jun 2020)
David Cullinane: Mr. Varley then said, "the private hospital contract is prohibiting the provision of urgent care required by patients with non-Covid illnesses." I have read Mr. Breslin's opening statement. He does not agree with that either.
- Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Use of Private Hospitals (Resumed) (2 Jun 2020)
David Cullinane: We will return to the nuts and bolts of the agreement and how it was negotiated. Who was involved in calculating the cost and negotiating the deal on the State side? I do not mean individuals, but what State actors - Departments and organisations - were part of the negotiation process?
- Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Use of Private Hospitals (Resumed) (2 Jun 2020)
David Cullinane: It was negotiated by the HSE and the Department of Health. Who carried out the cost-benefit analysis if there was one?
- Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Use of Private Hospitals (Resumed) (2 Jun 2020)
David Cullinane: Was a cost-benefit analysis carried out?
- Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Use of Private Hospitals (Resumed) (2 Jun 2020)
David Cullinane: There was not.
- Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Use of Private Hospitals (Resumed) (2 Jun 2020)
David Cullinane: As the party negotiating with private hospitals, I would have assumed the HSE would have sought those figures. Why were they not available? When we get into the nuts and bolts, the fundamentals of this deal, it was with private hospitals. Mr. Breslin will know, as he and I have soldiered alongside one another on the Committee of Public Accounts, that the Comptroller and Auditor General...
- Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Use of Private Hospitals (Resumed) (2 Jun 2020)
David Cullinane: I get that, so there was not one carried out.
- Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Use of Private Hospitals (Resumed) (2 Jun 2020)
David Cullinane: Could I ask if the Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform-----
- Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Use of Private Hospitals (Resumed) (2 Jun 2020)
David Cullinane: Mr. Breslin has said that three times. I accept that, but what I am-----
- Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Use of Private Hospitals (Resumed) (2 Jun 2020)
David Cullinane: Yes, that is the third time Mr. Breslin has said that. For the reason he outlined, there was no cost-benefit analysis, because, as he stated, the decision was made to do it, but there still could have been a cost-benefit analysis of sorts in terms of the fundamentals of the cost and I want to get to that.
- Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Use of Private Hospitals (Resumed) (2 Jun 2020)
David Cullinane: Before I get to that, I am sorry for interrupting, but could I ask whether the Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform signed off on the agreement?
- Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Use of Private Hospitals (Resumed) (2 Jun 2020)
David Cullinane: Did it sign off on it?
- Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Use of Private Hospitals (Resumed) (2 Jun 2020)
David Cullinane: Did the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform sign off on it? Did the Secretary General of that Department play any role in signing off on this?
- Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Use of Private Hospitals (Resumed) (2 Jun 2020)
David Cullinane: I know that. The national procurement agency is under that Department as well, and from other big projects where mistakes were made in the past, we know that the role of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is very important. All I am asking Mr. Breslin is whether that Department had a formal role in signing off on this process. If not, and it went straight to the Cabinet and it...
- Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Use of Private Hospitals (Resumed) (2 Jun 2020)
David Cullinane: So it did not.
- Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Use of Private Hospitals (Resumed) (2 Jun 2020)
David Cullinane: When Mr. Breslin was looking at this agreement, what percentage of capacity in private hospitals did he lock into the plan? What percentage capacity in private hospitals did he anticipate he would use over that three-month period?
- Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Use of Private Hospitals (Resumed) (2 Jun 2020)
David Cullinane: It was not all used, possibly less than half was used.