Mr. Robert Watt:

To add to what the Minister said, I absolutely agree with the proposal that we need to remove private practice from public hospitals. I do not believe the current system works. It leads to elements of dysfunctionality and it needs to end.

It has been heartening to hear so many consultants over the last few weeks giving their vocal support for Sláintecare and saying that we should not cherry-pick Sláintecare. That means those consultants are in favour of removing private practice from public hospitals given their very clear support for Sláintecare in all its manifestations. Given those comments, we look forward to reaching agreement on making the changes we need to make.