The Investment, Industry and IT Ministry will be requesting the selection board evaluating a call for tenders for a integrated health information system (IHIS) to suspend the selection process until claims that confidential information had been passed on to bidders have been investigated.

In a statement, the Depart-ment of Information said that in May 2005, the Contracts Department issued a call for tenders for an IHIS for the Health Ministry.

The IT ministry had been given the responsibility for leading a technical committee to evaluate the bids, a process which, the DOI said, is nearing completion. This committee included officials from MITTS Ltd, the Health Ministry and Mater Dei Hospital.

Last month, the committee chairman advised Minister Austin Gatt of suspicions that information of a confidential nature could have been communicated to bidders without authorisation.

Dr Gatt informed Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi about the matter and it was agreed that the Police Commissioner would be asked to investigate.

The IT Ministry has been informed that an MITTS Ltd employee who was acting as a technical consultant in the evaluation process is helping the police in the investigation, the DOI said.

In order not to prejudice police investigations, the ministry is to request the selection board to suspend the process until further notice, the DOI added.

In a press release issued last night, MITTS Ltd said the employee allegedly involved, who MITTS said was a project manager, has been suspended from duty until further notice.