Professor Orla Hardiman:

I would echo what Dr. Doherty is saying. It goes back to the theme we all have today. It is very easy to say that our health service is inadequate. Obviously there are many problems in the way the service is delivered to our patients, and they are not all resource issues. We are conscious that we are in the middle of the worst recession ever and that extra resourcing for the service we are trying to deliver is something that we would like in the longer term in whatever iteration we have to ensure the system is fair and delivered appropriately. In the meantime, the four of us present today would agree that there are many things we can do differently and more effectively with the same resources. There is a deficit between the policy and the process.