Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

It is a matter of making the HSE, which is a large organisation, improve and maintain the health of the people of this country to the best of its ability and with resources of €16 billion and a large staff by international standards.

I hope some of the suggestions made by Deputy Kenny about patient focus are correct. I agree with designating to line managers. They are in the structure but are being paid for doing the job and perhaps they should be allowed to do even more. These are the issues we must address and we have not only to correct the inherent weaknesses in the locations identified by this report but must also ensure no other part of the organisation has the same weaknesses. We must correct the weaknesses that exist and try to remove bureaucracy and address some of the serious issues that have arisen. That is why the incident protocol and the other recommendations have been highlighted. Our job is to implement these as quickly as we can.

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