Taoiseach refuses to give answers on IT controversy

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern refused to answer a series of questions in the Dáil yesterday on yet another controversial Government IT project.

The Department of Finance gave oral sanction for the Hospital Information System, through which individuals’ records could be computerised and shared between hospitals, on April 29 this year, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said.

The following day, which was a Saturday, contracts for the system were signed with a company called iSoft. The contracts were worth €56 million over 10 years, and covered software and maintenance only. The Health Service Executive (HSE) has already admitted that the overall system could cost up to €400m over 10 years to roll out.

Mr Kenny demanded to know why the contract with iSoft had been signed on a Saturday. He also queried whether “high-level emergency meetings” had been held between the Taoiseach’s department, the Attorney General’s office, and the Department of Health before the contracts were signed.

“Can the Taoiseach explain why a contract of this significance was signed on a Saturday?” Mr Kenny asked. “Why was it based on oral sanction and what was the rush?”

Mr Ahern said he did not have the details of the contract. The HSE was carrying out a review of all IT contracts which came under its responsibility, he added. “We await that report and until we know all the details, I have no more to say on the matter.”

Mr Kenny demanded assurances from the Taoiseach that the Government “was not put under pressure by iSoft” to sign the contract on or before April 30.

“Will (the Taoiseach) assure the House that the apparent rush to sign the contract on April 30 was in no way related to the fact that iSoft’s financial year ended on April 30?” Mr Kenny asked.

Mr Ahern responded: “We will have a full report from the HSE before Christmas and we should consider the facts on that basis.”

The Taoiseach also faced criticism over the Government’s response to a spate of gangland murders this year.

Seventeen people had so far been killed in gang-related murders this year, Labour leader Pat Rabbitte pointed out.

“These gangland killings are turning the system into gangland law,” he said. “There is no evidence of policing in whole tracts of my constituency and in urban and rural Ireland.”