The Health Service Executive said this evening it was 'considering all options' to ensure that patients affected by the suspension of transplant operations at Beaumont Hospital got the surgery they needed.
Beaumont is the only hospital in the country that offers combined pancreatic and kidney transplants. It has had to suspend the service because Dr David Hickey, the consultant who provides it, is on indefinite sick leave.
A spokesman for the HSE said he could not comment on whether patients could be treated abroad under the National Treatment Purchase Fund. He said a decision would be made shortly on how the HSE proposes to deal with the situation.
The suspension of the combined kidney and pancreatic transplant service was made public after Marion Blair from Blanchardstown, Dublin, who is waiting for a combined transplant, spoke out about having discovered by accident that Mr Hickey was on leave and that her surgery could therefore not take place.
Ms Blair has already been waiting a number of years for her transplant. Her kidneys failed nearly five years ago as a result of diabetes.
In a statement yesterday, Beaumont hospital said it was "sorry if any patient learned of the suspense of this service in advance of being formally told of it by the hospital".