Dr. Alan Barrett:

I am not sure if a long reply is needed. On hospitals - this is something I have given a bit of thought to in the Northern Ireland situation - we are back to that issue of rationalisation and whether it come be done on an all-island basis. Of course, it is continually raised with us that there are additional difficulties in Northern Ireland with rationalising the health service because healthcare facilities often service different communities. I am sorry to bring up bad memories, but if one talks about Roscommon hospital, just the group in the county were upset by it. However, if one tries to remove and rationalise a healthcare facility in Northern Ireland, it can be perceived as an attack on one community or another. There is an additional layer of difficulty. Achieving rationalisation in the Northern Ireland healthcare system, in and of itself, will be tremendously difficult. Doing it in an all-Ireland context will be phenomenally difficult. I know the Deputy referred to us about being important players, but - all joking aside - there are many lessons to be learned from the experience of people who have been through these battles and how they interact with and convince the public.