Mr. Phillip Watt:

Those were excellent questions. To start with the one on cross-Border healthcare, we work with the rare diseases group in the North. Members can tell from my accent that I am from Belfast. That group feels utterly abandoned. There is no administration, and they are dealing with Brexit as well. They are very concerned about the cross-Border services that will be affected by Brexit. They are distraught; that is the only word I can use. We need to extend a hand to them much more often than we do currently in terms of making sure they are included.

We still have backs to the Border. Everybody in the South looks at Dublin and everybody in the North looks at Belfast. It is far too small an island to do that. We need to pool all our resources, and there are some fantastic services in the North. They are developing genetic services of which we can avail. Some retina operations are done in the North. Likewise, patients with heart conditions are treated in the South. As the chief medical officer in Northern Ireland stated, we just have to get on with it and try to ignore Brexit and the fact that there is no Administration in the North and make sure those services work for our patients. I believe we should not stop that but enhance those services. I take that point fully on board.