Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 3 July 2019
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health
Health Service Executive: Chairman
Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Yes. The same as previous contributors. I welcome the chairman. It is nice to have a Sir at the committee; it will be the first and last time.
I am happy, I think, about the re-establishment of the board. My only concerns are that there may be another layer in place. A narrative exists among the public, where true or not, that the HSE is layer upon layer of administration. I refer to Senator Colm Burke's comments and that manifests itself in an imbalance in recruitment, which feeds into the same narrative. I wish the chairman the best of luck. We all await effective performance and accountability. I am deeply suspicious of this "need to have a conversation with somebody" approach to underperformance, but I suppose it depends on the style of conversation.
I understand the chairman is a chemical engineer by background.