David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I suspect that the time horizon of a Minister for Health might be a little different from how many of these projects are delivered. We have to be brave when we look at this, however. Some of these measures require medium- to long-term investment and will take time to bed in before there is an outcome, but they are really important. I know Ms McCormack wishes to come in but my time is limited.

The final point I wish to raise relates to the point in Dr. Kennan's opening statement about the health services operating in siloes in the absence of having integrated systems and so on. That is certainly an issue in respect of which we have a concern. Sláintecare was meant to integrate health services operationally and to join up community health organisations and hospital groups within a single structure, with single tiers of management in respect of primary, community and acute services so that we can start prioritising healthcare based on need and using resources in the most effective way.

As we move into regional health areas and start to integrate structurally our health services, if we do not have the IT systems that join it up or a greater use of unique patient identifiers and electronic paper records, we are not going to get the bang for buck we need. That is as crucial as the realignment of the structures. I ask the witnesses to elaborate on the issue of silos and what was meant from their perspective.