Professor Colette Cowan:

The Deputy asked whether I was the senior person. I am the accountable officer for the UL Hospitals Group. I do not believe that there are failings of management in UL Hospitals Group. "Management" is a broad-stroke name and there are many staff who work in management roles within the hospital system. On the day that HIQA arrived to conduct its unannounced inspection, the emergency department was exceptionally busy, we had Covid circulating and a number of staff went out quickly that morning, even in the half hour that HIQA was in the emergency department, which left-----