Mr. Bernard Gloster:

The top heavy and cumbersome processes sometimes go hand in hand. Sometimes they do not. There are processes of decision-making that are important for reasons of probity, because this committee or the Deputy's colleagues on the Committee of Public Accounts would have people like me before them if we did not have probity in terms of the allocation and management of resources. However, I will return to the point the Deputy picked up on in my opening statement. I think local and regional services even today, ahead of RHAs, are slowed down by a significant amount of process that is probably not as necessary as people think it is. I will bring them closer to me to speed up decision-making for them while we are waiting to get there. I will also redesign the centre of the HSE with the board of the organisation and with the approval of the Minister. Redesigning it does not just mean redesigning the size of the organisation or the number of people in it. It means redefining its role to simplify some of those processes the Deputy is talking about. Every system with which the public interacts in the Irish public service needs to hold a mirror up to itself, and not just once, or to do a strategic review or evaluation.

We must constantly hold a mirror up to ourselves and ask whether the process by means of which a person is getting a service is as simple as it can be for that individual. Even if we are caught up in things that are necessary in the context of corporate governance, that is not something the public should see or experience or that we should hold up as a reason for any delay. Improving speed of access is as important as many other things in the approach taken to waiting lists.