Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The witnesses are all very welcome. I thank them for attending in such numbers. This is an extremely important engagement from a mid-western perspective. I acknowledge Professor Cowan's apology to the people who have suffered the indignity of being on a trolley. It is important that the apology was made here today.

We have to be fair in acknowledging the good work being done in Limerick. Nobody would question anybody's commitment, the hard work done or the effort made. We are fully aware of the fact that nobody sitting opposite us wanted to see the circumstances that have existed in the hospital in Limerick for the past several years. Nobody wanted them and nobody wants them to continue.

On the HIQA report and the Deloitte report that Professor Cowan has commissioned, is it fair to say there should have been engagement with the performance management and improvement unit in the Department ahead of a HIQA report? The delegates have been on the ground and know how bad the situation has been. It did not really require HIQA to tell them. Why were they not proactive? Why did it take the Minister to express concerns and send down an expert group for there to be a change to the structures, flows and so on that has resulted in the incremental improvements we are now seeing?

Was it not an issue of concern prior to that and should the hospital group not have reached out and looked for help before the Minister or the HSE sent in the expert group? I am just curious.