Mr. Damien McCallion:

One of the challenges for CAWT is trying to facilitate those partnerships but, as you say, Chairman, coming out of Covid we have waiting lists in both jurisdictions.

We are examining whether there is something innovative we can do that will help both jurisdictions in some scenarios. I am familiar with the scenario in the South but in the Northern Ireland context, it may or may not apply. We have to focus our energy on particular priority areas. When we initially come together, North and South, there could be a couple of hundred ideas in the room and we have to try to filter them down to core projects that will deliver value and meet the EU's objectives on being innovative. The areas of medicine management, frailty services and obesity have been identified for this round. We also have to make sure there is alignment, by which I mean good commitment in both jurisdictions and among the various partners to a given project. It is not that all of these matters are not priorities but given that there are so many demands on the health service, we have to make sure we can deliver those projects. Last time, 80% of the projects ended up being mainstreamed when the EU funding ceased and we want to make sure we are hitting that sort of range again.