Mr. Tony O'Brien:

Deputy Doherty is right. It is a very significant number of people to have had very bad experiences over, I understand, a very long period of time as well as more recently. I understand from the Minister that at least some of those present were relating experiences they had as far back as the 1980s. This is not a new problem and neither is it an old one. It is a problem over a long period of time.

The Deputy asked about the patient safety authority and Dr. Crowley's change of job title. When I appeared before this committee to discuss the 2014 service plan, I outlined some of the changes. I said, "I emphasise there always is a danger, when one has someone who is identified as the director of quality and patient safety, that it could be perceived, either internally or externally, that it is that person" who is responsible solely for quality and patient safety. When the directorate was established which for the first time had people at national level responsible for social care, mental health, acute services and so on, they, as part of their work, accept and take on responsibility for quality and safety in their areas of responsibility. The functions of the director of quality and patient safety were a blend of quality improvement works, such as running the IHI programme for leaders in quality improvement and managing investigations, and a variety of other things. However, they are not actually responsible for the services themselves and therefore are not accountable for failures of service.