Mr. Ciarán Breen:

I will respond first to Deputy Louise O'Reilly. I am very conscious in responding on open disclosure of acknowledging the terrible tragedy of Margaret and Mark's personal stories. It was actually that kind of tragedy that propelled us to begin our open disclosure project back in 2010. Specifically, I address the Deputy's question about whether I think it should be compulsory or voluntary. We take the view that it should be voluntary; we sometimes have in medical negligence matters. We have found that where people are told they have to go into mediation, as has happened sometimes where mediation has been ordered, it has not been a satisfactory process. One is compelling people to do something. We think that at the heart of the patient-doctor relationship lies frankness and when things go wrong it should be acknowledged on a voluntary basis. It creates a climate of much more openness and less box-ticking. I agree with the Department about that. It also creates a real conscientious engagement by practitioners and doctors with a process on a much more open basis. That is certainly our view.