People who have spent longest on hospital waiting lists will be the first to be treated in private hospitals or abroad under a new scheme, the Minister for Health and Children has announced.
In all, €30 million will be spent this year by the National Treatment Purchase Team.
The establishment of the NTPT was announced when the national health strategy was published.
Yesterday, Mr Martin said it would focus initially on adults who had been on waiting lists for more than a year and children who had been waiting for more than six months.
The NTPT will pay for these adults to be treated in private hospitals, in public hospitals with spare capacity or abroad.
Management consultant Ms Maureen Lynott has been appointed to head the team.
Ms Lynott is a former assistant chief executive of the VHI and became a senior executive of BUPA Ireland when it entered the market.
With Mr Phil Flynn she drew up a reorganisation plan for the Irish Blood Transfusion Service.
She chaired one of the groups involved in drawing up the national health strategy.
"Preliminary discussions have taken place with the medical organisations and representatives of the private hospital sector in Ireland," Mr Martin said yesterday.
The Minister added that decisions on treatment abroad would have regard to quality, availability and cost.