Mr. Tony O'Brien:

There are a few questions for the HSE. I will deal with a number of them and my colleagues, Ms Mannion, Mr. Woods and Mr. Healy, will deal with the others. The 34% figure in my opening statement related specifically to the community intervention teams, in what is an OPAT-focused programme. Two things occur. Either there is admission avoidance, in the form of discharge from an emergency department into a community-based care system, or there is an earlier discharge. The programme specifically relieves admissions or discharge pressure in acute hospitals rather than layering on something new. We are seeking to avoid referrals to emergency departments altogether by making this a viable option for general practice.

I categorically state that the specific, targeted scoliosis programme is not to the detriment of other patients.

No existing service will be degraded as a result. There may be an opportunity cost in that if we were not doing this, we could be doing something else. There will be no existing level of service compromised as a result of this.

I did not include the information about the rates of teen suicide in my opening statement to claim any particular credit, but to counter a significant amount of misreporting - it is not so much disinformation - based on old data and the desire to correct current understandings. This is a very significant issue.

I will ask Mr. Liam Woods to address the issue of waiting lists.