Mr Tony O'Brien

Tony O’Brien has been Director General of the Health Service since July 2013 having served as Director General Designate/Acting CEO from August 2012.

Tony was previously Chief Operating Officer of the Special Delivery Unit, Department of Health and CEO of the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF).

He served as Chief Advisor to the HSE on the implementation of the National Cancer Control Strategy, Project Director for the National Plan for Radiation Oncology and is a former Chairman of the National Cancer Registry Board. He was the founding Chief Executive Officer of the National Cancer Screening Service, Director of BreastCheck, CervicalCheck and an Associate and Interim Director of the National Cancer Control Programme.

Tony is Chair of the Health Services Directorate (which has replaced the HSE Board in 2013), and he co-chairs the Emergency Department Task Force since September 2015.

Tony is Adjunct Associate Professor in Health Strategy and Management at Trinity College Dublin. He is also Vice President of the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) and a Council Member of the Irish Management Institute (IMI). In 2016, he was admitted as a Chartered Director (C. Dir.) by the Institute of Directors.

He is currently working towards his Ph.D. in collective leadership.

Tony’s emphasis is on building a better health service for Ireland.