Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Most or all of the witnesses sat through the previous session and will have heard strong allegations made about the prioritisation of clinical trials and research. My sense is that the issue concerns funding or, more correctly, funding cuts. It also concerns, very interestingly, culture. The allegation was made that while clinicians value research, the system - meaning HSE management, departmental officials and politicians - does not value it, has not funded it, has not aligned incentives so that it is a smart career move for people and has not created the processes where space can be carved out for clinical trials. Do the witnesses accept any of those criticisms? How would they respond?