Ms Rosarii Mannion:

Clearly, the employer has obligations around recruitment and the hiring of staff. The HSE operates under licence from the Commission for Public Service Appointments. We have a process of audit around all recruitment.

In terms of individual hospitals, it is very easy for us to itemise where the consultants are located. When hospitals hire staff they hire them to their specific competence. It is a matter of public knowledge and record whether staff are on any given register. Any member of the public can look up the register and see the qualification level of the consultant treating him or her. In terms of individual hospitals, as the employer the hospital certainly can go ahead and undertake its own recruitment. As I said, it is under licence. It is regulated. Anybody who is issuing a contract will make sure that if mitigation measures, supervisory measures, teamwork etc. are required, they are in place.