3749. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health to clarify the contractual or service arrangements between the HSE and a company (details supplied) in relation to the provision of diagnostic and medical services to public and medical card patients; the reason private patients appear to receive preferential access to appointments and treatment despite the HSE being a significant purchaser of services from the company; the safeguards in place to ensure that patients are prioritised on the basis of clinical need and urgency rather than their status as public or private patients. [62692/26]

As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.