Mr. Gerard Scully:

I agree with Deputy O'Dowd. I worry about centralised funding when I look at the centralised processing of medical cards and the bureaucracy involved in that, which has meant that economies of scale did not materialise. If we were to go down that road, it would have to be properly funded and resourced. As regards 100% funding to local authorities, if it was possible to segregate two separate strands of funding, namely, emergency and proactive funding, it could be a solution. We would need to look at the level of emergency funding required over the years and take it from there.