Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Many people would say that it is a shame and that we should be able to do some of that work in our hospitals in our State. There is not one Deputy who does not recommend this to people. If a person needs a hip operation but is told that the waiting time is 18 months, he can go to Belfast and get it done in a shorter period. Why not? That is provided the person had the wherewithal or, more important, the wherewithal to go to the credit union, borrow the money, pay it back and then the HSE would issue the refund. It is getting increasingly popular from that point of view. Can we get that information?