Mr. Fergal O'Leary:

The sector is reliant on volunteers. That feeds into the way we regulate the sector. For example, as the committee will know, there are hundreds of very small AHBs. We certainly do not regulate them and their directors in the same way we do a growing or a large organisation. We provide a huge amount of training to those organisations. In the past year, we have dealt with 1,500 members of small AHBs. We talk to them about risk management and budgeting in order that we do not have to do assessments for them. We carry out random assessments. Everybody has a fair shot at getting one, but for small AHBs in general, we see guidance, education and communication as the way to help them. For the larger ones, in order to home in on the issues we are speaking about today, there is a responsibility for those boards to make sure they are manned up properly in terms of their expertise and capabilities.