Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If I may, Chairman, someone referred to the fact that 18 X-ray licences were issued to chiropractors a few years ago. There are 130 chiropractors in the country, 110 of whom are affiliated to the CAI. There were 18 who had X-ray machines and now there are 11. Is that due to the cost of maintaining such units or to the fact that the private operators with diagnostic stand-alone setups might be more efficient, or is there any other reason? Within the profession - of the 110 or the 130 or 140 - do chiropractors refer within their own practices? Would it be normal for a chiropractor without an X-ray machine to refer to a chiropractor who has one - in other words, no referral to the radiographer or the radiologist? Do referrals happen within the practice?