Mr. Tony O'Brien:

There was a document included in the pack in relation to this. The 14-day period is 20 calendar days. It is 14 working days. The number of days taken for consultant sign-off is reducing steadily.

In 2010 it was 62 days, and in 2012 it was 44 days. We are very confident that as this year progresses, it will indeed be 20 days. Obviously, we are conscious that there is a tail and, therefore, a certain amount of catch-up to be done. One of the issues of concern is that as we reduce the period taken to process claims on our side, which includes both the preparation of the documentation and the signing off by the primary consultant, we are experiencing a lengthening of the tail on the other side. Of the time taken between the conclusion of treatment and the receipt of the relevant funding or income from the private health insurance sector, about 60% used to lie on our side. As we progressively reduced the proportion of time, we are seeing a corollary increase in time so that the overall time that it takes for us to get the cash is increasing. At present, there is not a hard and fast deadline for the private health insurance sector to return funding. We are in active discussion with the Department of Health, particularly in the context of the impending legislation which will remove the issue of private bed designation, to examine how best we could arrive at a situation where there is timely payment of the income once the forms are signed.