Reference is made to the article titled ‘Vitals payments doubled days before sale announced’ (January 9) regarding payments by the government to Vitals Global Healthcare.

The Department of Health states that all payments made by the government to Vitals Global Healthcare during 2016 and 2017 were as stipulated in the contractual terms signed by both parties and that no extra payments have been made as implied in the published article.

Editorial note: The article in question did not say the payments made were not in line with the contract but that they were “over and above the €16.5 million already paid during the year”. Also, the payments were approved by Parliament as part of the supplementary estimates for 2017. The media, and the people too, for that matter, cannot establish whether the payments are indeed in line with contractual obligations because the government has not published the contract yet.