Mr. Paul Reid:

No. The technical team will work on it in the background. There may be some background noises. Apologies for that.

I thank the Chairman and members for the invitation to meet with the committee to provide an update on the cyberattack on the HSE IT systems, the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccination programme, and visiting at maternity hospitals. I am joined today by my colleagues ,Ms Anne O’Connor, chief operations officer, Dr. Colm Henry, chief clinical officer, Mr. Fran Thompson, chief information officer, and Mr. Damien McCallion, national lead, Covid-19 vaccination programme.

I thank the committee members for their support following the cyberattack and for their patience and forbearance over recent weeks. We know they have been wanting to convene a session with the HSE for some time. I also thank the public for their support and to say to them I regret the inconvenience and worry experienced by many arising from the deplorable incident.