Mr. Brian McEnery:

Inspection of the disabilities areas has commenced on the ground. The official date for commencement was 1 November 2013. The overall budget for HIQA in 2013 was just short of €18 million of which €12.7 million was the Vote amount and €5.2 million came from registration and licence fees. In 2014 the Vote amount is due to be cut to €12.3 million but the amount in terms of licence fees will grow to about €7 million, therefore, the projected amount of income for the authority is about €19 million for 2014, of which about 76% of our overall income is on payroll. I believe the resources are sufficient to enable the authority to carry out its functions. We expect 220 staff to be in situ by the end of the first quarter of 2014 which will allow us carry out the increased function in the disability area.

In regard to other areas for which we may be given responsibility, obviously this depends on Government, in terms of licensing and other matters. We will be interacting with the Department in due course as that is rolled out to outline the level of resources that will be required. I can assure the committee that as of now the resources are either in situ or about to be in situ to deliver our services for 2014.