Dr. Peter McKenna:

I would have a slightly different perspective. There is more to it than funding that is an impediment. If we take a mythical Athlone maternity hospital which was functioning on its own for many years but all of a sudden it is part of a group. It has to open up its practices to external scrutiny and it may not like this. In fact, one can be sure that it will not like it. The idea of being part of a group, part of a national strategy, does not necessarily sit that easily with individual organisations. I believe there is more to it than just money. There is the idea that a hospital is part of a system rather than a stand alone unit.