Mr. Tony O'Brien:

The vast majority are very small organisations providing local services. While they might provide similar services to those provided in other localities, one would not really call it duplication. There are in the social care division a number of discussions ongoing about mergers, either of entire organisations or of the back office support services for those organisations. There is clearly a cost effectiveness and an efficiency gain to be had by the amalgamation of some of these providers but that would be done in the context of their remaining as section 39 or voluntary providers rather than seeking to turn them into State assets.