Dr. Marita O'Brien:

For a couple of years, the budgets will have to be increased for the overlap because one cannot suddenly stop funding acute care. If one did, one would then end up in further crisis. With the health and social care integration programme, the HSE has developed a really good model of integrated care for older people in particular. One cannot suddenly stop funding nursing homes. We did that before and had a crisis of a 12 to 20 week wait for nursing home beds. One cannot just take funding from one area and give it to another. Increased funding will have to happen. As a society, we have to ask how important it is for our population. In all of our reports, it states that the health of our population is our most valued commodity. As a preliminary matter, funding will have to be increased but it will have to be done in a targeted way. Particular targets will have to be set out so that such a thing is achieved at primary care level with such funding. Gradually, the savings should start to come into effect in the acute and other care areas. Those savings could be used to fund the continued move to primary care. Over a certain number of years, there will have to be increased funding for health which is targeted at placing services back in the community.