Mr. Fred Barry:

I will pass this over to my colleague but the medical equipment that will be provided through direct purchase will be the equipment that is required. There will be no reduction in the specification of the equipment that is going in to hospital following this decision. It should not be thought that this is being done to save money upfront. If anything, it will increase the expenditure upfront.

The situation in hospitals with equipment becoming redundant and needing to be replaced is replicated throughout industry everywhere. Whether equipment is replaced down the road is a matter of whether the funding is made available to do so.