David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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I will add one point because we are tight on time. A national strategy is very important and I support Vision Ireland's call for it. Mr. Mullaniff talked about moving some of the services, or maybe putting more of a priority on community care as opposed to having a higher dependence on acute care, which is one of the tenets of Sláintecare that makes perfect sense. We are told the logic of the regional health areas, RHAs, that are being established is to align services, bring an end to silos, have an integrated system and a single budget, and put more emphasis on and bias towards community care. While having a national strategy is very important to give coherence, engagement by Vision Ireland with the new executive regional officers in those RHAs will be important. As that is being rolled out, precisely what we want to do is shift the focus away from acute services, where it is not necessary, into the community where it may be more important, not just for prevention but treatment. I offer that up by way of advice.

As I will not be back in again, I wish the organisation well. I thank its representatives for their presentation.