Anthony Lawlor (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House following his tough negotiations with the Minister for Finance to secure extra funding for the HSE, in particular in light of the fact that it required €700 million for this year. It is a sizeable sum of money. I hope it does not all go on administration. The money should be for patients rather than administration. As part of his role, the Minister is determined that should be the case and that money should follow patients.

I have a couple of queries about the HSE board. I am always nervous about the independence of boards and, in particular, their ability to question an executive. We have had too many boards around the country. I hark back to one of the major causes of the financial crash which was the boards of banks consisting of wine-guzzling, cheese-chaffing individuals who did not take their roles seriously. It was a very important role, however. Sadly, the boards acted not for their shareholders, the ordinary citizens who bought shares, but for the bankers themselves. They followed like little sheep the lead ram, namely, the chief executive of the bank, through the gap.