Mr. Tony O'Brien:

In respect of the specific locational questions, including those on Belmullet, Bandon and Bantry, I propose to forward detailed replies to the committee, which we do not have in our possession here and now, within a short number of days. We are completing our assessment of the impact and cost of any storm damage, although the damage to our infrastructure has thankfully not been as significant as we at first feared it might have been. In respect of the issues raised about recruitment, I will give Ms Mannion notice that I will be asking her to speak on those issues. I will ask Mr. Woods to give us the latest position in respect of scoliosis.

With regard to the question on drug approvals, nine drugs were subject to an approval process earlier this year. They were Erivedge, which is used to treat basal cell carcinoma; Brintellix, which is for depression; Entresto, which is used for heart failure; Lynparza for ovarian cancer; Gazyvaro for follicular lymphoma; Entyvio for Crohn's and ulcerative colitis; Opdivo for renal cell carcinoma and, separately, Opdivo for Hodgkin's lymphoma; and Otezla for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. All of these are either already available and listed for reimbursement or will be by the beginning of November in line with the announcements made during the summer.

On the HPV vaccine campaign, while it is too early to be quoting any data or statistics, the school-based teams administering and engaging with students who will be offered the first dose from September or October of this year and their parents are reporting a much better atmosphere and much more positive feedback. While we do not have hard data, we would say that we are now cautiously optimistic that we will see an uptick in the levels of uptake of the HPV vaccine, although it is no time for complacency in that regard.