Mr. Vincent Colgan:

Deputy McGrath asked whether the sector is too big or whether, at 436, there are too many entities involved. I do not think the number is what is important; what is important is that it is a vibrant and active sector and this will invariably be with a smaller number. As part of the AHB strategic review, we met representatives of well-meaning, vibrant small AHBs and a lot of dormant AHBs that want a path out. We want to do this in a reasoned way for continuity. We want to create economies of scale and we want to support more large AHBs. We will not get fixated on a number, but we have to have mechanisms to achieve all of these, especially with specialists.