Ms Emma-Jane Morgan:

I thank the Senator for the questions. Since we were last here, we have been working intensively on the future design of the statutory scheme. We have been taking on board a lot of the feedback we received from stakeholders and the recommendations from this committee and its interim report, and that has all been feeding into the work we have been doing to look at the design of the scheme. Unfortunately, that work has taken a bit longer than we would have expected but it means we are doing a comprehensive analysis to make sure the scheme is fully fit for purpose and is for the benefit of patients. It is likely, as Mr. O’Connor said, that it will continue into early 2022 before we will be able to bring that legislation through the Houses of the Oireachtas but we are looking to develop the general scheme as soon as possible. If I were to give a rough timeframe, the early part of 2022 is what we are aiming for.