Dr. Tony O'Connell:

There is no system of unique patient identifiers at the moment but there will be. The cost of implementing such a system is quite significant. It is not just a matter of asking for a PPS number; we will have to change thousands of databases to accept the number. It is a huge cost, but it is absolutely within the programme of work of the HSE's IT programme. It is seen as very important. Unfortunately, we are limited as to the budget available to us for information technology. However, it is something that will be done in the next few years.