Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will put the blunt question, which is not unreasonable to ask. Should the entire board stand down? I am not saying that the project should be stopped but I must ask whether we have the right structure in place. We have the hospital board, steering committees, the HSE, the Department of Health, the Minister and then the Government. That is six steps down the line that responsibility is being pinned. We know that the terms of reference kept any conclusion to be reached down at that level; they were not to come up the line near the HSE, the Department or any higher. At this stage, the competence of the entire board is at issue. That is no reflection. If something had gone 50% wrong in what the public had been told between April 2017 and November 2018, one has to question whether this board can even get it right. I am posing a valid question.