Mr. Muiris O'Connor:

Work is ongoing in the HSE to spec out what a tender for a shared care record would look like. We do not regard the summary care record as a distinct project. It is a deliverable at an early point in the roll-out of shared care records.

That would be more valuable to health and social care professionals, and to us all as individuals, than was set out by the Deputy. We can consider including information that can be followed up, such as a summary care record listing the patient's most recent GP, the hospital in which the patient had an X-ray and, even before the X-ray is transferable digitally right across the country, the key information of where the patient was last seen and the check-ups undergone. That will facilitate a more connected and patient-centred approach to health. As a Department, we will clarify timelines. We will be working intensively with our colleagues in e-health, the HSE, HIQA and others.

We are conscious that, in terms of the timeline for a Bill, we are no longer sequential in our thinking. We cannot be so. We feel the frustration in the room in respect of delivery and digital health. We are working with the HSE and HIQA to ensure that in the period when the Parliament is legislating on the Bill, HIQA will be doing concrete work to advance the detail for the information requirements in the summary care record and the HSE will be moving to deliver it as part of a wider shared care record programme.