Mr. Tony O'Brien:

Section 38 hospitals come in two different types. This is a true voluntary hospital. There are other voluntary hospitals, or what we call voluntary hospitals, such as Beaumont and James's, which are actually in the ownership of the State and whose boards are appointed by the Minister or on the Minister's nomination. This is not that type of hospital. This is in the ownership of a private entity. It is one of the orders. I cannot recall offhand which one it is so I won't attempt to guess in case I get it wrong. We have no appointment authority in relation to the board of that group.

The governance structure of the group at present, which is also a cause of concern, and was something that the former chairman had agreed to address, was that there is a single board over three hospitals.