14.—(1) The Agency shall make payments in accordance with the Statement.
(2) Where in accordance with regulation 18(4) the Agency has paid to a patient in respect of a testing of sight an amount which exceeds the fee payable to the contractor, in accordance with the Statement, for that testing, it shall deduct the excess from remuneration otherwise payable to the contractor.
(3) Where the Agency considers that it has made a payment to a contractor owing to an error or in circumstances where it was not due, it shall, except to the extent that the Department on the application of the Agency directs otherwise, draw the overpayment to the attention of the contractor and —
(a)where he admits the overpayment; or
(b)where he does not admit the overpayment but the matter having been referred under regulation 5(1) of the Health and Personal Social Services (Disciplinary Procedures) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996(1) for investigation, the Agency, or the Department on appeal, decides that there has been an overpayment,
the amount overpaid shall be recoverable by a deduction from the contractor’s remuneration or in some other manner.
(4) Recovery of an overpayment under the provisions of this regulation shall be without prejudice to the investigation of an alleged breach of the terms of service.
(5) A contractor who is unable to complete for a patient the general ophthalmic services which he has undertaken to provide shall inform the Agency accordingly in writing, and if the Agency is satisfied that the inability is due to a reasonable cause it shall make payments in accordance with the Statement to the contractor for such part of those services as he shall have provided.