Dr. Cathal O'Keeffe:

Our role is advisory. The overarching statement of our mandate is that it is an advisory role. We do not have powers to compel the HSE or any other organisation to follow our advice. We also come very specifically from a claims perspective, which was the point I was trying to make earlier. There are lots of processes within the system to look at risk across the entire system. The HSE has its own developed risk management processes, from a safety and quality committee right down to individual risk management in individual hospitals. Our added value is to look at what we see in claims and bring that particular perspective.