Mr. John Connaghan:

Maybe I can start with some kind of answer to that. I am relatively new in the role of director general and in my understanding of the full scope of responsibilities and accountabilities in that role. From my perspective and in my role, I need to be accountable and responsible for the performance of the system. I understand the committee had a discussion at a past meeting about whether the previous director general was accountable and responsible for the actions of every single person inside the system. The answer at that point was that it was going to be pretty hard to have such accountability and responsibility, given that people sometimes step out of the system. The role of the director general and the board of the HSE, when it is established, is to make sure that a proper set of system controls and procedures is in place, that there is a safe system of working and that all of this is regularly monitored with good procedures. I fully accept that my responsibility lies at that level.