Mr. Liam Woods:

I had dialogue with the group chief executive last week. Like the Chairman rightly said, on that day I think there were 44 patients in the hospital awaiting an MRI scan, which is clearly a key factor in patient flow. I will come to the Chairman's main point presently. What we have done in the short term is bring MRI capacity outside of the hospital where we can but, clearly, this only works to a certain extent. The NTPF has worked with us in this regard, which has been helpful, over last winter and in this part of the year. The underlying point, that Limerick requires a second MRI scanner, is agreed, and we are looking at options including, as the Minister said, winter funding. I think the quickest option is to acquire a leased MRI scanner. The timescales around acquisition and building would be longer. We will therefore look at the option of putting a leased MRI scanner on site as part of our winter programme. The implication for us is a cost that I think has been referenced at approximately €1 million to €1.4 million, but a second scanner is a key requirement that is fully accepted, so we are working with the group on what that would look like on the ground.