Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

No. It is the manner of the appointment that is the problem. Of course the directors have duties that they have to fulfil. Nobody is gain-saying that but as a director of the Central Remedial Clinic, Mr. Nugent must be cognisant of the fact that the vast bulk of the clinic's funding comes from the HSE. It is public money. He also has to be cognisant of the fact that in association with that public money, there are rules, regulations and oversight. No responsible director or board sets those aside in such a cavalier fashion to protect some notion of themselves and their fellow governors. That strikes me as a very peculiar approach in terms of discharging one's duties. I do not believe that respecting the HSE governance requirements and remuneration policy and adhering to them in any way undercuts the role of directors or undermines the authority or function of the board. That is not true. Mr. Nugent keeps repeating it but it is not true.