Ms Helen Byrne:

I will come back to the Chairman on that issue. I will receive confirmation on whether there was consultation.

On having it part of the service in Crumlin versus locating it in the national centre, a review has been undertaken of the services being delivered by the genetics service in Crumlin. Senator John Crown made a very good point that it was considered as part of the funding for Crumlin hospital and when budgets were cut, that budget was cut also. A steering committee has been set up with some international expertise to advise on what the genetics service should look like and it is to report to the HSE within the next six months.