Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 17 December 2015
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children
Task Force on Overcrowding in Accident and Emergency Departments: Discussion
11:15 am
Mr. Tony O'Brien:
My apologies, I should have addressed that as well. We have a procedure relating to protected disclosure. We also have a confidential recipient. On several occasions since I became director general I have written directly to all staff inviting them to ensure they avail of the procedures available to draw attention to issues they believe to be wrong. I did that in the context of Portlaoise and I did it again in the context of Áras Attracta. I also appointed Leigh Gath as a confidential recipient in a particular context. I established what is known as a suggestions to DG e-mail address in order that individuals can contact me directly should they need to do so. Obviously, I would prefer that they did not have to have recourse to that. There should never be any question of recrimination for the raising of concerns, which many staff have a professional obligation to do in any event.