Mr Martin Hynes became chief executive of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service four years ago last Monday. Then known as the Blood Transfusion Service Board, the agency had been emerging from the height of the hepatitis C scandal, which had culminated in the 1997 Finlay tribunal.
Mr Hynes's main task was to restore public confidence in the service and implement a series of structural changes recommended by the tribunal. These included the closure of Pelican House and the relocation of the service's headquarters to St James's Hospital, a project which Mr Hynes oversaw in 2000.
He had to guide the IBTS through a second public inquiry, the Lindsay tribunal. He became embroiled in the controversy over a decision by the IBTS board to centralise its testing facilities in Dublin.
Mr Hynes had previously worked for the South Eastern Health Board as programme manager with responsibility for acute hospitals and related capital expenditure. Before that, he worked at the Department of Health, planning the national psychiatric service.