Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

All right, I will try.

I note what we are doing here today. We need to have confidence in the HSE, obviously, under Mr. O'Brien's jurisdiction. Mr. O'Brien is not an island. I accept that he cannot know everything that went on in the HSE historically. I accept errors can happen. Obviously they should not, but they can. I accept that Mr. O'Brien is relying on others. He is managing a massive organisation, the largest employer in the country. Mr. O'Brien must have confidence in the information being provided to him at all times, particularly when he comes before the committee. In fairness, Mr. O'Brien is so often before committees here that he is here almost every week.

We are here analysing the statement Mr. O'Brien made to the committee and the subsequent statement he made. On the previous occasion Mr. O'Brien was here, there was a delegation with him which included Mr. Pat Healy. This committee made requests that Mr. Healy be here again today for the purposes of accuracy on what happened at the last meeting and the statement Mr. O'Brien made, which, obviously, was influenced by Mr. Healy because Mr. Healy is responsible for that area. Mr. Healy also was not out on radio a couple of weekends ago when Dr. Cathal Morgan, who is an excellent individual and who, in fairness, is only new into the job, was put out. Why is Mr. Healy not here today with Mr. O'Brien?

The issue for me is that this is the person responsible. They are a team. Mr. Healy reports to Mr. O'Brien. In order to get the accuracy required on the information that we need, surely, given the request by the Chairman, he would be here with Mr. O'Brien. Why is he not here with Mr. O'Brien?