Keith Swanick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have two very brief points. Dr. Holohan said that the senior clinical physician may be engaged in the reporting mechanism. On a practical level, patients spend a lot more time in the community than they do in hospitals. How would Dr. Holohan envisage this reporting happening in a community or a primary care setting where the health professional might be working in isolation, be it a GP, a public health nurse, a physiotherapist or an ancillary member of the primary care team. Who would take the lead in the reporting mechanism in those instances? With regard to Deputy O'Connell's point about the legal protection offered for the health professional, and considering the soaring medical insurance costs at the moment especially for doctors in private practice who may not get some funding from the HSE, does Dr. Holohan believe this may foster a culture of unwillingness to co-operate with the whole process?