Mr. Jim Breslin:

I was not involved in the events that gave rise to that. If I get it wrong, maybe somebody here could clarify it for me. I do not see it occurring in the future because any future arrangement is unlikely to entail 100% control of those facilities, which means the private hospitals will still be able to do work outside of the arrangement with the HSE. Given that it was rescinded within 24 hours and it related to laboratory requests, I do not envisage that it had any significant impact beyond 24 hours of disruption. I cannot see how it could have interfered with a result.

I cannot see how that could have happened.

With respect to how it came about, much clarification was being sought in what was a complicated position around the extent to which clinical indemnity, which is a State insurance or indemnity scheme, covered certain aspects but did not cover other aspects. The communication that issued sought to clarify the matter but left one piece unresolved. When it was seen, it was addressed within 24 hours.