John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I understand that. I will give Mr. O'Brien my opinion. If he goes down that road, that is fine, and he stated that safeguards are in place and went through the process and so forth. Individuals - I am not referring to Mr. O'Brien personally - open themselves up to compromise, however, in accepting such from a private company that operates and deals directly with the HSE and Irish hospitals. Regardless of the HSE's internal checks and balances, this opens up Mr. O'Brien to being compromised. HSE employees will see this in the newspaper and I am not sure it will send out a good message with regard to how the State operates and the head of a State agency with a budget of €13 billion operates. That is my personal opinion and it does not question Mr. O'Brien's integrity in any respect.

I am sure officials from the Department of Health are listening to this conversation. They should examine the propriety of such trips and benefits-in-kind with regard to suppliers to the health service. It is unwise and it may be an area that should be changed and that should be done by the HSE voluntarily. That is just an opinion.

With regard to the independent review panel which the Department of Health communicated to us yesterday evening, I thank the HSE for the work it has put into this issue. The Department is examining the proposals the Health Service Executive has produced and will deal with them when it is appointing the independent review panel. Having read the document a couple of times, I assume it is the intention that the chairperson and members of the review panel will not be former HSE employees. This is not stated implicitly or specifically in the document, however. Will Mr. O'Brien clarify whether it is intended that the membership of the independent review panel will not consist of former HSE employees?