Dr. Susan Coote:

It is a very good question. Neurological conditions require integrated care and the silos in the HSE do not necessarily reflect the needs of the people living with those conditions. I would have concerns that if responsibility for disability is moved from the Department of Health at Government level, it will then be very difficult to see where this health-related intervention will sit. I would hate to see that significantly impacting on the implementation of this. As Ms Rogers has said on a number of occasions, this needs to be implemented now given that we are so far behind international best practice. As a number of speakers have said, implementing this is a no-brainer. I would hate to think that moving responsibility for disability out of the Department of Health would cause barriers for this because it is a health intervention. It is a very good question. We cannot get involved in moving it around the HSE. It sits in the disability area; it needs to be implemented.