Mr. Tony O'Brien:

The data in the performance assurance report, PAR, for February indicate that we are in a challenging financial position, principally in two areas, namely, the acute sector and the social care sector. The acute sector experienced particular pressures in January and February - these continue to some extent - versus objectives around cost containment which would have seen us converting more agency cost into permanent cost. This pressure coincided with the time when we needed to retain a degree of agency employment to cope with particular demand. In the social care sector, costs are being generated by regulatory compliance, although they are not exclusively in that area. At this stage in the year, it is too early for me to speculate as to where we will land later in the year. However, we will do so in due course.

Outside of these factors, there are pressures in demand-led schemes. Although the economic recovery is leading to some reduction in the numbers of people needing ordinary medical cards, the number of discretionary medical cards has increased and the costs of drugs and so forth are an ongoing pressure. It is far from being a challenge-free year financially and in fact this year will be very difficult for the health service financially.