Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am very happy to second Senator Crown's amendment. He has expressed the issue of urgency very clearly.

Creidim féin gur chóir don Aire sinsireach teacht isteach, mar tá ceist tromchúiseach eile ardaithe anois faoi bhronnadh na gconarthaí le haghaidh seirbhísí a sholáthar do na hospidéal san iarthar. I would like the Minister for Health to come to the House himself, because I also want him to address the serious concerns that have been raised in the media, and by others, about the award of contracts for the provision of information technology services to the group of hospitals in the HSE north-west region, recently rebranded Saolta. The contract to provide these services was awarded to Northgate plc, a British company, and the value of the contract has not been disclosed by the HSE, but The Irish Timeshas reported that a senior member of management with Saolta was previously a consultant with that company. It is also clear from that The Irish Timesreport that Northgate was the only company invited to bid for this contract.
We have a problem here which has arisen before in relation to this hospital group and the tendering for contracts. This hospital group includes - and Senator Ó Clochartaigh raised this previously - major hospitals in Donegal, Sligo, Mayo, Roscommon and Galway. Previously there was a contract for a report on the provision of maternity services. Again, only one body or group was invited to tender for it and that organisation had an association with the then chairman of the hospital group. It was on foot of that, it appears, that this chairman resigned.
In order to maintain public confidence in the management of these major hospitals, the Minister for Health must address certain key questions in the House. What was the value of the contract for IT services? In light of that value, did the tendering processes follow correct procedure? Was the Department of Health and the then Minister aware of the possible tendering anomalies to which I am referring in the context of Northgate plc when the other issue was raised previously in the Seanad? If so, why was no advertence made to that fact? The Minister gave an assurance that there would not be further breaches in relation to procurement matters.