Mr. Liam Woods:

There is a diversion of views. Because we are close together does not mean that we agree. We were very close together for quite a while. In fairness, the reference to technology to which the Deputy referred is about recording patients as they attend. A system has gone in, through the NTPF, to private hospitals to support that, as the private hospitals themselves have a variety of systems and we have to depend on what is there given the short timescales.

Another point I should touch on is that the suggestion that 1 million patients are impacted seems excessive. There is an impact in outpatients in the public system, where 3,200 consultants are working. We can see there is a loss of appointments of about 150,000 in April. From our perspective, that is significant and we must catch up on that. I accept the Deputy was reflecting what was represented to him but it sounds to me, bar seeing more detailed information, that the figure is excessive.