Mr. Tony O'Brien:

The role of clinical directors has been one of the most significant and critical developments in the introduction of contemporary leadership models to Irish hospitals which has been a feature of high-performing hospital services elsewhere. The point Mr. O’Brien made was not about their general ability as high-flying medics but their ability to provide leadership to their medical colleagues as well as for the changes necessary in models of care and so on. Notwithstanding the valid points Deputy McDonald has made about the scale of the fee and so on, clinical directors are a critical component of achieving better value and efficiency in our hospital system. They are also a critical part of the way hospitals are being reformed.