Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

As I stated on previous occasions, I can only do so when we have a legislative way of doing so and we cannot do that in advance of having licensing, authorisation or accreditation. Some of the misdiagnoses that have come to public attention occurred in both the public and private sectors, in services that are organised around extremely small volumes of patients and where the critical mass of specialist doctors, etc., does not exist. Discussing matters with the independent hospitals and advising insurers to follow the guidelines is the most appropriate way to ensure we meet the patient safety standards.

The Deputy's question relates to something that may never happen.

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