Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The last area I want to ask about is the whole issue of governance. It strikes me that part of the problem with the voluntary agencies is that they probably started off with few funds and a dedicated group of volunteers. As the State gave them more support they have had to deal with a great deal more money. As they are dealing with our public money, by and large, the whole issue of governance is really important. As in the case of the CRC, we saw last week that it was a tight group that was essentially self-electing. All the members and friends of the CRC were on the board of the CRC.

How much does Dr. McLoughlin know about how the boards of these organisations are set up? Let us take as an example either St. Michael's House or St. Vincent's hospital. If we are to have good use of public funding, it is really important that boards are put in place which represent all the different stakeholders in any organisation, be they patients or staff, of all types.