20 Mr. Cullen asked the Minister for Health the number of hip replacement operations carried out at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, on behalf of the Southern Health Board; the total cost of these operations excluding transport; the contracted price; the cost of airlifting the patients to Belfast; the anticipated average unit cost; his views on whether these hip operations could have been carried out more cheaply, or as cheaply, in the Republic of Ireland; and if tenders from hospitals in the Republic were sought or received.

28 Mr. Cox asked the Minister for Health the number of hip replacement operations carried out at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast on behalf of the Southern Health Board; the total cost of these operations excluding transport; the contracted price; the cost of airlifting the patients to Belfast; the anticipated average unit cost; his views on whether these hip operations could have been carried out more cheaply, or as cheaply, in the Republic of Ireland; and if tenders from hospitals in the Republic were sought or received.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 20 and 28 together.

To date, a total of 108 hip replacement operations have been carried out at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast on behalf of the Southern Health Board. The total cost of these operations, excluding transport, was IR£280,300 which is within the contracted price. The average cost per patient was £2,595. However, the contract was structured on a sliding scale related to the volume of cases to be carried out. This was to ensure that the board did not have a liability for the full contracted price of £500,650 for 300 operations in the event of fewer patients availing of the services. The total cost of airlifting the 108 patients to Belfast was £56,700.