Mr. Robert Watt:

We do not have a timeframe for that. We are setting the budget for 2022 now. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform will set out the 2022 allocation to our Minister next week, so the devolution will not happen next year. We are hopeful that we will have put in place a process for 2023 onwards. I do not have the details at this stage, but over the next month or two, we will have them. I agree with what Deputy Shortall said about the importance of this reform having a regional focus that enables the integration to take place, ensures that budgets are allocated based on need at regional level and provides better accountability at regional level for outcomes for citizens. That is the philosophy that I subscribe to and that is the way to go. We will give our views on how to push ahead with this to the Minister shortly.

There is no institutional resistance to this in the Department of Health or the HSE. There was a healthy debate about the timeframe. My experience as a long-time civil servant is that healthy debate between officials and, God help us, even between officials and Ministers is a good thing. That there can be differences of opinion, which there are, is not a bad thing. The worst thing is to have differences but not to air them and not to have a frank discussion.