Professor Deirdre Heenan:

I absolutely agree. The shared island is an ideal vehicle for sharing knowledge and information, for agreeing objectives and then for agreeing funding. The funding may in the first instance involve finding out, if you will pardon the expression, what the lie of the land is and where we are in terms of our healthcare outcomes. We depend on data that is not very reliable but it would not be beyond the wit of academics across the island to change that. If there is a joint project, we need to establish a baseline and work out where we are and where we want to go. What is the destination? As the Deputy said, this is not about constitutional preferences. Everyone should want to ensure such a large tranche of public funding is well spent and people get the best possible outcomes.