Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Of course, being capable and doing the job well are two different things. The Minister has a very difficult job. Funding means he will not be able to do anything near everything that everybody wants, but what is critically important is the choices he makes when it is a question of robbing Peter to pay Paul, which is, sadly, the position we are in from the point of view of health. I hope he thinks long and hard about those choices and tries to make the right one, not just in terms of finance or the statistical breakdown of access to health services, but to look at it in the round and take Irish culture into account in respect of the fact that people live in the north-west and south-west regions. It is vital that we have centres of expertise, but it is equally vital that people can access certain vital acute services within what might be a three-hour commutable distance, that is, an hour and a half one way and an hour and a half home.

I also urge him not to take refuge in the mythology of cross-Border co-operation with regard to the north west when it comes to matters such as cardio-catheterisation laboratory facilities, the provision of radiotherapy and other issues. We will not be able to depend on the Queen to provide adequately for the citizens of this State in that regard.

Those are just a few brief points. The Minister will have as much support as I can possibly give, but as the former Minister, Deputy Reilly, will tell him, I will not hold back if I believe the wrong choices are being made. That is democracy and I would be of no use to the Minister if I did otherwise. I offer him every best wish for the time ahead.

I thank Senator Conway and Fine Gael for tabling this motion. An attempt was made to add a motion to it, but it is being withdrawn as it would take from the motion and we do not wish to dilute the very important issue the Fine Gael Party has put forward. We fully support the motion and welcome the fact that it has been tabled. We are already dealing with some of those choices that face the Minister in the context of what can and cannot be provided. Regrettably, we have seen that under funding provided to Pobal from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government funding is being removed from certain organisations. Hopefully, not many of them were connected to the provision of services for the visually impaired or the blind.

Vision 2020 is a global initiative with the noble aspiration of eradicating all preventable forms of blindness by 2020. I do not know if we are on course to achieve that at this stage, particularly when one considers that it has affected approximately five people per week over the last number of years. The core pillars set out in Vision 2020 are facilitating planning for disease control and for the implementation of a specific programme to control and treat the major causes of blindness, and for the human resource developments that will support training of an adequate number of ophthalmologists and other eye care professionals. I do not know what the position is in respect of the figures in that regard, but it is something we should consider. We have seen the example of obstetricians, the shortage of qualified and experienced obstetricians and the difficulties this will cause for the Minister in terms of adequately staffing the 19 centres throughout the country, so it is very important that we have the optimum number of ophthalmologists in training. That brings me to the third pillar of Vision 2020 which is infrastructure and appropriate technology development, to improve the infrastructure and technology and to make eye care more available and accessible to people.

The "Framework to Adopt a Strategic Approach for Vision Health in Ireland Report 2012" highlighted eight principles to be implemented. In April 2014, the "Economic Cost and Burden of Eye Diseases and Preventable Blindness in Ireland" report, which looks at the situation in Ireland, shows that 75% to 80% of blindness incidence is preventable. The cost per annum of that is approximately €205 million. God knows, the Minister would have many quarters in which those funds could be used if they were available to him. Again, that is the case with many other disciplines. It is critical that we get to the nub of early intervention and preventing diseases, because that is ultimately where the serious cost is incurred. In the neurological area, for example, we are probably spending many billions of euro in terms of the costs. With regard to cancer, the case for early intervention is very clear as well. That is the case in many aspects of public health.

I would like to think this is an achievable target for 2020 and I look forward to hearing the Minister's views on it. It is one thing to use Private Members' time, as Senator Conway and Fine Gael rightly have, to raise awareness of the strategy and its ambitions, but when one boils it down to action, what are we doing about it? What can we do strategically, bearing in mind the inordinate budgetary issues the Department has, to make Vision 2020 a realistic target in terms of eradicating preventable forms of blindness? It will be interesting to hear the Minister's views. Talk is cheap and motions such as this are good for raising awareness, but what are the tangible outcomes? We must state what they can be, rather than just clap ourselves on the back, say we did a good day's work in highlighting this and bringing people involved in the sector to the Visitors Gallery, with everybody going away thinking it was a great debate. Realistically, what is happening? Hopefully, as Senator Conway said, there will be a tangible outcome.

I will not delay the House. We would happily second the motion but I do not wish to steal the thunder of Senator Conway's colleagues. I will allow them to do that.