Mr. John Hennessy:

Before the Chairman concludes, I hope we have assisted the committee in addressing some of the questions on this important issue. It is a huge area of expenditure and is of considerable public interest as well. Our approach has seen significant progress because, as the joint committee has heard, a balance must be struck between reducing price and maintaining supply, which is critical. As for the future, a key priority for the HSE is Professor Barry's programme in respect of rational prescribing. One other point I might add is in the area of information and transparency and pertains to providing a lot more information in the public domain on price and costs and helping the debate on this important area through greater transparency on the figures. The points Mr. Flanagan has just made on competition, choice and well-informed consumers are highly pertinent in this regard.