Dr. Avril Kennan:

What was meant from our perspective is just what the Deputy is talking about. GPs are operating off one system and each hospital operates off another system. Even in departments within hospitals staff have to transfer paper records down a corridor and that does not always happen in a timely fashion. It delays everything. That is what we were talking about. As Dr. White said, that is not just important from a healthcare perspective; it is critical from a research perspective. People talk now about data being the new oil. In Ireland, we had an isolated genetic population over many years. Thankfully, there is more diversity now but it is a rich data source to mine for differences in genetics. The differences in genes that cause disease pop out from the background. There is so much potential in bringing it all together. That is what we were talking about in terms of silos.