Appearing before the assembly's public accounts committee on Tuesday, Mr Sissling agreed with the "realistic and reasonable assessment of the scale of pressure in the NHS".

BBC: Welsh NHS: ?50m fund to ease pressure - David Sissling

The IEA is probably best known for its Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), an international large-scale assessment of learning outcomes (ILSA) for primary school learners in science and mathematics, as well as for PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study).

UNESCO: Article on assesment

For America will come up with the money only if its fellow-members agree to a new scale of assessment under which the Americans will regularly contribute rather less than they did and a handful of other countries rather more.

ECONOMIST: Saddam defies the UN, again

If adopted on a grand scale, the assessment argues, such techniques could double crop yields.

ECONOMIST: Financing water projects

UN's own assessment of Iraqi needs, the scale of the expanded deal will have to be reduced.

ECONOMIST: Waiting for the next Iraqi crisis

The World Water Assessment Programme is both global and local in scale, for it must check the accuracy of the big picture on the basis of snapshots of water in the field.

UNESCO: World Water Assessment Program (WWAP)