Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister's move in this regard. I also welcome his clarification because his comments to me yesterday were that the scheme was opened up again, which is not the case. I brought this to the Minister's attention just before we came into the meeting. The position is now that there will be no processing of the primary medical certificates until the beginning of next year when this legislation is enacted. The difficulty I raised yesterday with the Minister was that there are 1,500 people who should have a primary medical certificate now who, because of the suspension of the scheme and because of Covid-19 will not have it at the end of this year and the indication I am getting from the HSE is that it will not start to deal with this particular backlog until the new year.

This will be in the context of Covid-19, the vaccination programme and developments relating to that. As a result of the suspension of this scheme, the 1,500 people who should have got their primary medical certificates this year will not get them until some time next year. Those who apply next year will be obliged to wait a considerable period before they get access. In line with the Minister's comment to me yesterday that if there is a problem with this he will look at it, will he give a commitment that he will consider providing some type of additional resource to ensure that this backlog is addressed in a very timely manner?