Mr. Paul Reid:

I did want to come back to the question that Deputy Cullinane posed the last time. I apologise for not addressing it. He asked me whether there was a mandate for managers, hospital groups and clinicians that see a need to spend extra funds for particular demands to go ahead and do it. The answer is "No". We work with a budget. We are putting a monthly process in place, however, where we will be working closely with all the hospital managers groups and community. That will allow us to be able to predict where there are extra demands and where we might be able to find some capacity. I think that is good practice and we may be able to reallocate some funds for particular items. I think that will be welcomed when we are talking closely.

Turning to the second issue, the Deputy addressed pressure points in the system where people have some good ideas. I have been in University Hospital Waterford, University Hospital Galway, Mullingar Regional Hospital, St. Luke's General Hospital Kilkenny, Beaumont Hospital and many others. I have seen some really good ideas and innovation at a local level. There is some good innovation in emergency departments and in interactions between acute hospitals and community organisations. There is also some good innovation and engagement involving general practitioners, GPs, and accident and emergency departments. There are, therefore, many good local initiatives under way. For me, this is not about waiting for a big bang initiative from Sláintecare. We need to implement these bottom-up initiatives and support them. That is happening. I wanted to address those remarks in respect of Deputy Cullinane's point.