Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome our guests and thank them for their submission. Having sat where they are on more than one occasion, I know that they are not health economists and I do not expect them to be, but they have given the committee a very interesting and important perspective from the front line, to which we would do well to listen.

One of my questions relates to the production of reports. I am aware that people might say, "If we just had another consultant's report," or that if we just fling another few million euro at one of the big consulting firms, somehow a solution will fall out of the sky. I share Dr. Sadlier's aspiration to have a fully staffed team in north Dublin, but I do not think it will come via the few million euro spent on a consultant's report. Sinn Féin asked about issue this recently in a parliamentary question. Millions of euro are spent by the Department of Health on reports. One could line the walls of this place with them. They possibly could do it to provide extra insulation and it would provide value for the money spent. Nothing is done. A Vision for Change is a great strategy, but not if it is not implemented. I contend that there is a lot of evidence that more implementation plans or another consultant's report are not needed, that what is actually needed is the political will to get on and get the job done. The first moratorium on recruitment in the health service was brought forward two years ahead of everywhere else in 2007. We cannot ignore the fact that while the moratorium had a detrimental impact on every Department, for the Department of Health and the HSE the impact was felt two years earlier. Sometimes this is forgotten when we talk about the overall health spend. It is a large amount of money, but Dr. Sara Burke, for example, has said we are just plugging a gap and trying to make up for decades of under-investment, with a population increase. I am interested in hearing the delegates' views on whether another report might help. I do not believe it would, but I am open to hearing from the representatives if they think one is necessary.