Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

I do not think it was put in exactly those terms. For me, it is important that targets are set in strategies and plans, particularly where budgets are involved, so one can establish whether one is hitting them. I accept that there has been better performance. If they had set targets they would probably have set them lower. With regard to the delivery of the programme in 2017, my understanding was that the treatment target was 1,600 but that was not achieved in 2017. Everything has changed. The drug type has changed and the cost has dropped so it is time to reset the target. We do not need to have a disagreement about what is important for clinicians as opposed to for accountants. Both perspectives are valuable.