Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have spoken with both Ms Magahy on several occasions and Professor Keane. Ms Magahy and Professor Keane are serious individuals with a lot of experience. I very much regret their resignations. I would have liked if the issues had been flagged earlier, and perhaps we could have proceeded differently. However, the situation is as we find it.

In terms of Ms Magahy, as Mr. Watt has said, what was expressed to me were two issues. The first was a frustration with resistance to change and, second, that the structure was not working. There is a team within the Department trying its best. Mr. Patterson and the team are working incredibly hard to own something as ambitious as universal healthcare. Ms Magahy was frustrated with that structure. We are making changes to that structure. Let us be very clear: we are talking about universal healthcare and what I would argue is the most important programme of change and progress in our society and republic. That is how I view it. Something that big and ambitious has to be owned right across the Department and the HSE.

With regard to Professor Keane, his letter was sent to SIAC and is available. He is a serious individual with a lot of experience. He has brought a lot to the table and it has been very valuable to have him in. He, too, expressed frustration with a resistance to change, and stated that the environment was such that change was not possible.