Mr. John Horan:

It is good from a number of points of view to have a two and half year contract rather than a one and a half year contract, for example. There are variations between those durations. The longer one provides a strong degree of certainty for the nursing home operator, the resident and the Exchequer. There a fixed view as to what is going to happen in a year or two years. I am sure members talk much more than I do about multiannual budgeting. That provides a degree of stability and certainty that would not exist otherwise. It is an indicator of confidence in the scheme by the operators.