Mr. Aaron Mullaniff:

We have a service level agreement and a memorandum of understanding between the Grangegorman CHO service and Temple Street hospital. This has been in place for five years. We have quarterly governance meetings. It is representative of what is happening. It will be spread throughout the network as good practice.

With regard to what happens to patients on the extended waiting list, children with amblyopia, which is poor vision in one eye, have no symptoms. They are born with it and they have no idea they have it. There is a very narrow window in which it can be treated. By the time the children are eight years of age, there is nothing that can be done about it and they will have poor vision in their eyes forever. A wait of one year is significant.