Mr. Muiris O'Connor:

Absolutely. Simplification is an important part of this. I reassure the committee that eircodes and PPSNs are to support the provision of direct care. It is not for secondary purposes. When we say data for research or analysis or even whether an insurance company is interested or a policymaker or a doctor with a special interest in outcomes arising from particular interventions, they would be pseudonymised and anonymised. The eircode and PPSN will be the first things removed, along with names and addresses. There could be some interesting area-based analysis, which would be legitimate and would not compromise any individual's privacy. Eircodes and PPSNs will be hugely transformative. They will be a crucial part of how the RHAs will roll out. At the moment, there are waiting lists but they are lists of procedures being waited on, rather than people waiting on services. To get the PPSN across all those waiting lists and understand in a case where an individual is low on this list and that list, they are on all lists so their prioritisation may be recast and they could be brought in quite urgently. The eircode has obvious benefits at planning level and in assigning waiting lists to the management of RHAs and the local areas below them. We think they will be really helpful.