In September 1989 the Commission on Health Funding published the results of its analysis of the funding and management of the health services. The Commission's report represents a major contribution to the debate about the future of health services in Ireland. If accepted, the Commission's recommendations will bring about significant changes to the way in which services are delivered. In this paper, we comment on·the Commission's report. In so doing, our aim is to identify those recommendations which should be implemented and those which require amendment or further elaboration. While generally in sympathy with the Commission's analysis and findings, we argue that the Commission's diagnosis is more convincing than its prescriptions, and that there may be more effective ways of bringing about the suggested improvements than the recommendations contained in the report.