Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 301: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children when the contract with iSoft for HIS was signed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29144/05]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The HSE has advised that the formal contract was signed on Saturday, 30 April 2005. This is in accordance with the Department of Finance approval which issued to the HSE on 16 May and refers to confirming oral sanction given to HSE over the telephone on 29 April with regard to the signing of a contract with iSoft.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 302: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the circumstances under which she halted the rollout of iSoft in 2004; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29145/05]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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In April 2000, the South Eastern Health Board sought tenders for a suite of hospital information systems on behalf of five health boards and selected hospitals within the Eastern Regional Health Authority. With the creation of HeBE, the proposal became a national one and was handled by HeBE in terms of a national approach. HeBE approached the Department for funding in the context of the national health information strategy and indicated that they wished to place the contract with iSoft on behalf of the health service. The business case for taking that particular supplier was made as a result of a consultancy study carried out by Deloitte & Touche in October 2003.

In late 2003 HeBE had been pressing the Department for an approval to sign the contract and a submission was made to the Minister setting out the case for a hospital information system. The Secretary General raised issues concerning the operational support of the system and indicated that time should be allowed to ensure that a correct decision was made. The Minister raised issues regarding tendering requirements, suitability for major hospitals and the approval that would be required from the Department of Finance. The Minister decided to await a report on these issues before making any decisions on the project.

Subsequently, the interim Health Service Executive sought independent advice on the system and the Health Service Executive sought approval for the system early in 2005. Department of Finance approval of 2005, which was essentially for the replacement of two old health board sites and approval for national rollout was subject to a number of stringent conditions. There has to be further agreement from the Department of Finance before the project as originally submitted can begin.