Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

We are imminently close to appointing a lead. I would have preferred to be in a position to do that today, but I am not. It is imminent, essentially.

I appreciate what the Deputy said about January. It is for this group of experts to determine their process and not for me to step across that. I expect and hope it would be done within six months but, again, if independent clinical experts tell me differently, then I will take their clinical perspective on it, as I am sure the Deputy would. I remain committed to updating the House, when I have the information, at any stage.

I am sorry that I do not have a timeline for the complete group of patients, but I will look into that to see what is possible and come back to the Deputy. Again, it will be an estimated timeframe. I am somewhat pleased that close to 200 patients have had that clinical review. Of course, that has been prioritised for those who might be expected to have complications, as I understand it, but I will look at that further.

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