Mr. Joseph Musgrave:

I want to respond to Deputy Durkan's two points. HCCI came in with a submission today that was not all about funding. While we said we would welcome funding, even if funding increased dramatically what we are saying is that the system is not designed to cope with increased capacity. There are changes that can and should be made right now, around how we commission the supply of carers and professionalising the workforce. I hope the committee can influence those changes. I would welcome more funding but my submission is largely not about funding.

I would hesitate to support a single provider of care. One can take my view with a pinch of salt given who I represent, but at the same time a monopoly provider of care would not take advantage of the expertise in the system and probably not deliver value for money and would put the committee in a position where one is overseeing a mammoth body with very little accountability, which I suggest would be even less than is now the case. I do not see how that would provide the answer.