Ms Catherine Donohoe:

I am not up to date on orthopaedic waiting lists and would do the committee a disservice if I indicated to the contrary but I am aware that addressing waiting lists is a priority for the HSE specifically through the hospital groups and at hospital group level.

Regarding potential activity capacities within the schemes, Ms Morgan referred to shortfalls patients tend to encounter. We always encourage patients to examine both schemes - the cross-border directive and the Northern Ireland planned healthcare scheme. In Ireland, patients are not used to buying healthcare as a commodity and looking at the market as whole because there is significant value in other countries in accessing healthcare where a patient is capable of and comfortable with accessing healthcare in other jurisdictions and not restricting themselves to Northern Ireland. That is no reflection on Northern Ireland. It is just an indication that the market is quite large and there are lots of players in the market and lots of providers offering assistance to patients in the market to access healthcare in other countries as well as in Northern Ireland.