Professor Ursula Kilkelly:

The feedback session would have provided an opportunity for the requirements in Irish law in regard to fair procedures to have been met prior to the report being finalised. That sequence was set out in the terms of reference and would have avoided where we now are, whereby the legal risk associated with a breach of fair procedures only affects publication. The board has been consistently clear on that issue. In the context of reference to reasons why the report should be published, the point was made earlier that the report may be in some way offensive or that lessons will not be learned. I reiterate that this is a constant process of improvement and learning from multiple reviews, HIQA inspectors' reports and so on. The process of getting behind the problems and understanding and remedying them is ongoing on a daily basis. I do not think it fair to suggest that a report completed over two and a quarter years ago is our only source of wisdom on these issues. We are open to expertise and insights from anywhere but the work must be done by those in Oberstown and that is crucial.