Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I reiterate that the members of the board came through the PAS process.

Amendment No. 6 is concerned with a nominee by ICTU. The Minister appreciates that the amendment states that the nominee should have sufficient experience and expertise to allow him or her to make a substantial contribution to the performance of the HSE's functions. However, in establishing the board, we need to move away from the concept of nominations by a stakeholder group, however well suited to the role the nominee may be. In the case of the HSE board, the Minister's view is that nominees by individual organisations would not be good practice and would lead to calls from other bodies to make nominees. I do not, therefore, intend to accept either amendment.