Mr. Tony O'Brien:

If a post arises for a short term, I will most likely redeploy it. I make different sets of decisions. For example, when the post of chief financial officer became vacant, I elected to redeploy an existing national director, Mr. Stephen Mulvany, who was the then national director of mental health, into the role because I felt it would benefit from his strengths. The resulting vacancy for the national director of mental health will soon be advertised in an open competition. Ms Laverne McGuinness, who sometimes appears here, is moving on after 20 years with the health service, having been head-hunted by the private sector. We wish her well. Her successor will be appointed on the basis of an open competition. One cannot become a national director except by means of an open competition. It is sometimes limited to the health family, as was the case when the directorate was established and the sanction limited recruitment to people who were already employed in one of the health agencies. As individual posts become vacant, I can and do, on occasion, exercise my discretion to fill them by redeployment from among my top team, and then fill the resulting vacancy by open competition.