Ms Émer Deane:

I thank the Deputy for that. Healthcare, as he said, is an area where we really want to see collaboration deepened and the Department is working with its counterparts in Northern Ireland to try to prioritise what areas it sees as having the most potential. It is very much in those specialist services, rare diseases and cancer care that we expect there will be better opportunities to provide better care across the island, given the scale and the number of patients on both sides of the Border.

Senator Murphy mentioned that cardiac care at Altnagelvin has been there for a long time. That is true but there are opportunities to widen out within those two areas of paediatrics and cancer, both in those places and more generally, to develop a more cohesive and strategic all-island care in those areas. That is the work the Department of Health is undergoing with its counterparts in the North with a view to identifying priorities. Of course, they are the experts and we will be led by them to identify what works because they know the bigger picture, the priorities and where the co-operation will work in what can be a very technical field.