Mr. Bernard O'Regan:

Regarding the mergers and acquisitions part of the question from Deputy Donnelly, there are examples of organisations that have merged and formed alliances with each other or where one has taken over another. That has been partly driven by decisions between those organisations themselves regarding what was in the best interests of the future of services or for financial or governance reasons, etc. Those are some examples of what is happening. I know from our membership that there is certainly an openness to exploring those options but there are also questions. Some of those questions concern the underlying assumptions regarding what mergers and acquisitions achieve.

There is also concern about the importance of the relationship these organisations have with the communities of which they are a part and trying to maintain the right balance of scale. There are questions on how to maintain that connection to communities and how to do that well, while, at the same time, making changes on a scale that could bring about the type of efficiencies mentioned. Becoming involved in these exercises, however, comes with costs as well. They may be time bound, but there are transition costs and a need for resources. If these kinds of mergers and acquisitions are to happen in a serious way, the role of the State in facilitating them will be important. Rather than two organisations inventing the wheel and two other organisations then reinventing it, the sharing of learning on process, etc., could be usefully facilitated by the State.