Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is correct. There is a bit of a catch-22, which is that if one has to wait too long for a procedure, one can use the NTPF, but to do so, one has to get an assessment for which one has to wait too long. It is a catch-22 and too many people are left outside the system. They cannot access the service they need through the HSE and they cannot access it through the NTPF because they cannot access the assessment through the HSE. We are taking a fresh look at it this year. We are looking at the €130 million in the NTPF and the additional €210 million for the access to care fund, as well as those other pots of money, and asking how we can do this better. For example, one of the things we are doing is expanding access to diagnostics, which was not available previously. The Deputy is entirely correct. The current situation can be improved and it is our intention to do that.