Mr. Muiris O'Connor:

Much work is being done to ensure that the GDPR will be honoured in the context of continuing the arrangements with the UK when it is a third country. All our regulators have been in contact with UK regulators, while all service providers have been in contact with their counterparts North, South, east and west to inform them of their obligations to interface with the EU where the GDPR applies. We have supported in practical ways our agencies and service providers to do what I outlined. Standard contractual clauses will need to be put in place to ensure that the information in respect of a patient in Altnagelvin Area Hospital, for example, will be treated with the safety, security and confidentiality that is expected in the EU. The matter has constituted an awful lot of the work in recent years. When one compares our preparedness now with that in March, we are now much more comprehensively ready.