Mr. Hamilton Goulding:

The simple answer for giving this large amount of money to Mr. Kiely is that we felt the alternative would cost more. There was a legal compulsion for us to do it if we wanted him to leave. If he did not leave and we continued under present arrangements, as we were legally compelled to do by contract, it would have cost us more. That is the simple answer and it is backed up by much legal advice. As I stated, I do not like the idea at all and it is an uncomfortable notion. When it comes to the idea of hiding funds or having slush funds, the board would have three objectives or duties. One is to maintain, sustain and protect services for people getting an existing service in the CRC. The second is to retain the ability to bring people who are not receiving service into the net and expand the scope, geographically and functionally, of the clinic. That is very important and we can only do that if we have a capital fund. The third objective is to keep a reserve in these times of rapidly diminishing State funding for obvious reasons. It was only prudent for the CRC to keep a certain reserve of money to offset future anticipated reductions. One of the problems in speaking about capital funding is that in the health service the physical disability sector tends to be the poor relation, as other elements are seen as more urgent and immediate in the acute care area.