Ms Anne O'Connor:

To reassure the ombudsman, we have done a lot of work on the panel system. We have certainly made significant improvements regarding how we recruit. We just need to be careful, in that the recruitment process is not our only challenge in filling posts. The availability of staff also is a matter we are struggling with. When we consider the scale of the recruitment of health and social care professionals in all care groups — I appreciate this committee is about children with disabilities — we note we have never before recruited so many health and social care professionals across all disciplines. There are several disciplines in which there is very short supply in Ireland. A very small number of dieticians are trained in Ireland, for example. We are dependent on overseas recruitment. That is not a process issue; it is a supply issue. We are certainly working on it. We have similar challenges with the recruitment of consultants etc., in respect of which we have worked through a lot of improvements. I would not want anyone to think we have not spent a lot of time examining recruitment processes, but I have to emphasise that the panel issue is not our biggest issue. Supply is our biggest issue.