Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

All I can say is that it is a good thing I did not go for what George W. Bush would call a bathroom break. The Minister knows what this motion is about. Serious concerns 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. The group has been rebranded Saolta.
It has been reported that a contract to provide information technology for patient care management, among other things, was awarded to Northgate Public Services, a British company. The value of the contract has not been disclosed by the HSE. The Irish Timeshas reported that a senior member of management with Saolta was previously a consultant with that company. The contract is presumably valuable given that it covers the major hospitals in the north western and western region. It is also clear from The Irish Timesreport in question that Northgate was the only company invited to bid for the contract.
The Minister is well aware that we have had a problem previously in respect of this hospital group and tendering for contracts, specifically in the context of a report on maternity services. In that case only one party was invited to bid and the successful party had a connection with the then chairperson of the west north-west hospital group. The consultancy was called D & F Health Partnership. It was awarded the contract and the then chairman, Mr. Noel Daly, later resigned his post as chairman of the west north-west hospital group.
The Minister's predecessor, Deputy James Reilly, told the House on 28 May that a review by the HSE found the procurement of services from the D & F Health Partnership consultancy was not in accordance with internal regulations.
The question is what has happened in respect of the Northgate contract. Several questions need to be answered. What was the value of the contract for information technology services awarded to Northgate? In light of whatever the value was, did the tendering processes follow correct procedure? I understand there was an earlier contract with Northgate which was then extended. Were tendering processes followed correctly at all times?
Were the Department of Health and the then Minister aware of the possible tendering anomalies to which I am referring in the context of Northgate when the other issue about the maternity services was raised in the Seanad? If so, why was no advertence made to potential anomalies with the Northgate contract when the Minister dealt with the previous issue in this House? This is important, particularly considering the Minister gave an assurance that there would be no further breaches in respect of procurement matters. If the Minister knew at the time that there had already been a significant breach, his not adverting to that fact raises a serious issue. If any such breach happened subsequently, what does that say about the attitude of this particular hospital group to the question of appropriate tendering and procurement requirements? Any conflict of interest or commercial connection in respect of any member of senior management of those hospitals raises serious issues.
It is being reported that the current chief executive of Saolta, Mr. Bill Maher, is the party who has or had some commercial arrangement through consultancy with Northgate. He is due to finish his term as chief executive of the west north-west hospital group at the end of this year.