Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is very important that the health services are at least on the same page - which I accept is the case - but I would also appreciate if they were at the same pace, because not only are we most certainly committed to co-operation in this regard, but we see all-island co-operation on health care delivery as a hugely important area which is under-explored in so many ways. This is an indicative issue in terms of the scope of what can yet be achieved. I emphasise that it is very important in terms of the ongoing engagement, not only at ministerial level but at inter-parliamentary level, the very point being that it has been collectively agreed by all of the political parties on this island that this will be a substantive issue for address next May in Stormont. I do not want to go there if we are still not across the line with this. I appeal to people at the helm of our health services to move at the same pace so that we get this across the line and are happy to say, "Look what we have achieved here." We now need to be looking at what else we can achieve to our mutual benefit and to the benefit of the cost element of health delivery systems North and South.