Mr. Jim Breslin:

The consultants received a type A contract and are remunerated for that. In some instances where there is a business case in which their outpatient rooms would need to be used for the delivery of public care, paid for by the public purse, the HSE has been given the authority to enter into arrangements as long as there is value for money. That does not underwrite all the business losses that somebody suffered. Whole sectors of the economy are experiencing such losses and there are arrangements in place to address that separate from the health service.