Dr. Tony Holohan:

I am not in favour of mandatory open disclosure in every circumstance where error occurs. There is not a country in the world where that is the standard. There is a duty of candour arrangement in the UK that is often cited. It does not apply to physicians, only to organisations. The arrangements we are making, confirmed by the Government's approval on Tuesday to draft legislation based on proposals that we have had in train for some time, are to make mandatory a list of what are called serious reportable events. They are less frequent, but they are serious in terms of their potential. A list is already in operation in the HSE in administrative terms. It reports on that each month. This is in line with the UK's duty of candour arrangement. That is what I am in favour of.