Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome Mr. Gloster. I wish him well in his new role. It is not only the committee but also the country that would wish him well. It is a big task and we all want to see the reforms necessary. As the Cathaoirleach has said, there are many challenges, not just in the community care but right across the board, as Mr. Gloster will be very well aware.

I also welcome the officials from the Department of Health, from the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, and from the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform.

It is good to engage in this particular aspect. As the Comptroller and Auditor General has outlined, we have already touched on the issue of personal protective equipment, PPE, and the procurement around that. In hindsight it is easy to examine. If we all cast our minds back, it would be fair to say that we were all wishing there were enough ventilators in the country for what we were anticipating would be an extremely difficult couple of months, as it was for many, especially for health staff and those who contracted Covid-19.

That said, there are a number of issues that have been highlighted, which we must examine. The first issue is the review internally by the HSE, post-pandemic.

What internal reviews have been carried out by the HSE and the Department of Health into the chaotic time we experienced at the outset of the pandemic, with a view to ensuring we are better prepared in the event of another pandemic or some other global crisis? The witnesses might comment on any such internal reviews and the co-operation between the HSE, the Department of Health and the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform.