Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

That would be the objective because in the current instance that person would have to treated in any event. The objective would be that they would be able to access their records as quickly as possible with whatever identifier was available. The Deputy is right to identify the savings and I will ask Mr. Tierney to speak more to that. I visited the National Rehabilitation Hospital recently. Everything is computerised. There are little trolleys where staff input at the bedside the details that need to be there for the whole system. There is a saving in that it will free up staff's time and facilitate staff in being able to recall records. I have also visited archive rooms in hospitals right across the country. These are rooms that are down around the back of the hospital, in some room far away, and unfortunately we are now requiring hospital staff to find physical files and bring them back. That all takes time, particularly when someone presents in the accident and emergency department. There is a huge time saving that is a cost saving. I will ask Mr. Tierney to speak more to this. However, it is essential that we do this and this is-----