Mr. Maurice Power:

Saolta was established in 2012 so our governance is well established.

The question relates to where we move to next. My understanding is there has been no legislation drafted relating to hospital trusts. My personal view is that hospital groups are a good idea and they can work very well, albeit with challenges relating to integration. No matter what structure is involved, there must be accountability, which is still with the Health Service Executive, HSE, or some form of organisation in terms of a commissioning unit. We would be held to account for the activity we do, the finance position, our performance and so on. That still must be in place.

I am not too sure of the long-term plans relating to independence. Irrespective of that, there must be accountability where the groups are performance managed. We are a small country and there will be national policy and direction given by the Department of Health and HSE on how we do our business and what catchment areas we cover and so on.