Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Dr. Burke for coming here and for her presentation which, as ever, was incredibly informative. My first question relates to evidence the committee heard from Professor Allyson Pollock on universal access underpinned by legislation. What are Dr. Burke's views on whether it is preferable to put legislation in place and frantically work towards it or to incrementally build to a point where we are in position to put the legislation in place with the heavy lifting already done? While Dr. Burke could probably guess my personal views on it, I would be very interested to hear her view.

I view the NTPF as privatisation by stealth, and probably the worst form of privatisation, given that people are being told it is not privatisation and it is good for them. There is a backlog, and there is a role for outside providers to clear the backlog. I would be interested to know the extent to which Dr. Burke thinks it might be possible to switch off the tap of the NTPF and how quickly it could be done.

Bizarrely, I read on Twitter that there is another new structure in the HSE. I have not heard the rationale for it and I do not understand it. I am sure it has something to do with governance and accountability. Professor Pollock would have spoken to us about it. Although in Britain the buck stops with the secretary with responsibility for health, they have very much strengthened local accountability. Does Dr. Burke believe the structures in the HSE are fit for purpose? I hesitate to use that phrase given that I do not mean it necessarily in that way. I refer to the manner in which they could be improved. Would we be better to focus on more local accountability rather than high-level accountability, which is where the HSE is focused?