Mr. John Connaghan:

Most western, developed, modern health economies pursue something called the triple M which takes account of increases in the health of the population; the delivery of high-quality services; and, the pursuit of value in the public spend. I think I have previously described the three tentative value elements to what the HSE is currently about. One is what I would call the usual suspects, and I have gone over those, like print, postage, back office services, etc. Right now the HSE is well engaged on that, with every CHO and every hospital group at national level, through what we are doing in terms of our procurement strategy. The next bit is one where we are only partially engaged and we can do an awful lot more. I would recall it is the clinical efficiency bit that I have previously explained. That is doing things like increasing the level of day care surgery that we have. That in itself leads me back to one of the drivers that we have in the national service plan. We have always had, in the national service plan, a desire to do more for the amount of money that we have. That is a good thing but the question is whether we are doing the right things. Maybe it is not always right that we drive more activity through our hospitals. Maybe it is a sign of success to be driving less activity through our hospitals and doing more in the community, doing the right kind of things. We should optimise inside hospitals what should only be done inside hospitals. Is the Deputy with me?