Mr. Robert Watt:

I thank the Deputy. I do not have the email in front of me but, from what I recall, the Deputy’s summary sets it out. Sláintecare and the vision set out by it in 2017 said that any structural changes should be kept to a minimum required to deliver on the overall objectives, which are to achieve better geographical alignment between the CHOs and the hospital groups; to ensure integration of care at local and regional level; and to ensure resources are allocated on the basis of population needs in those regions. These are high-level objectives. We are very conscious that we need to keep structural change at a minimum required initially to deliver on the objectives because of the nature of this structural change.

Structural change is very time-consuming and it can be very disruptive. We have a very busy organisation with very busy teams delivering care as we go along.