Mr. Tony O'Brien:

There has been discussion with the Department and the Minister. Clearly, the Minister is innately aware of the importance of these savings. However, as I stated, this is a matter that is not specific to the health service. This is a public sector-wide issue and as recently as its recent meeting this week, the Government has made clear its intention to further this issue. For the time being, it is not appropriate for the HSE to begin to consider alternative ways to leverage that kind of cost reduction. This is because first, this is not profiled until 1 July onwards or in other words is a second-half issue. Second, in the absence of measures that reduce our costs, it would be extremely challenging to begin to extract that level of saving from the direct provision of services. As it would have a highly negative effect on the provision of health care, for the time being it is appropriate for us to await the outcome of the process the Government has initiated.