Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In the week that Dr. Holohan's announcement was made, and that is why Mr. Fraser is here, it was announced that the HSE chief operations officer was leaving and going directly to work for Voluntary Health Insurance, VHI, which pays the HSE for services provided, and that the deputy national director of acute operations of the HSE was going to HIQA, which is still within the public sector but is supposed to regulate and investigate the HSE. Is the VHI in the private or public sector? Arguably, it is State-owned. I am not suggesting either of them has done anything wrong or breached any rules - far from it. However, it surprised me that there was no cooling-off period involved in their move. That is just my personal reaction. It strikes me that it would be beneficial if there was. That is just one minor example that happened to coincide with Dr. Holohan's. There are many people who were key figures in the Covid-19 response leaving the HSE, and there appears to be many people leaving together.

However, to revert to my question, Mr. Fraser would agree with me that procedures around this would be advisable and potentially beneficial in the public interest.