David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will turn to what may be a more difficult question for our witnesses, but we need to have an honest conversation about the management of the hospital. I wish to pay tribute to the staff in the hospital and the entire management team. The witnesses would be as disappointed as anyone else in the long waiting times and some of the stories coming out of UHL, particularly about older people staying on trolleys for more than 24 hours. Our job is to ensure that patients are fairly represented and to put honest questions to the witnesses. There are obvious questions for the HSE and the Minister as regards capacity. It is our job as politicians to ensure that hospitals have capacity.

I am looking at some of the failings outlined in the HIQA report. The witnesses might be able to assist me and say what changes they believe they can make and whether they believe that management is responsible in part for some of the failures. There was partial compliance with management arrangements to support the delivery of safe and reliable healthcare. Who was responsible for that in the first instance? From my reading of the report, that is management. Are there failings in management that have led to HIQA saying that the hospital is only partially compliant in that regard?