Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I confirm I am in Leinster House. I thank the witnesses. I was following the meeting remotely before coming to the office and I have been listening to the witnesses' statements. There are a few points I would like to put to them.

My first question is for Dr. Colleran. The level of diagnostic delay is worrying.

There are people who are sitting at home today, having breakfast, going to work and dropping the kids to school and who have cancer. They could have early stage cancer or their bodies could be riddled with it, unfortunately, and they may not be aware of it. Some of that is down to delays in cancer screening and some of it is caused by the fact that people have put off everything over the past 14 months, from seeking advice about toothaches, knee pain and everything in between.

I read in Dr. Colleran's opening statement that "More than 21,000 patients are now waiting longer than one year for essential hospital treatment". I wish to focus on the following. Does Dr. Colleran have any metrics on how long catch-up may take, assuming that in the midsummer period around 82% of the population will have received their first vaccine? We are getting to the herd immunity stage, which is a term I really do not like. We are getting close to that. Assuming there will be public confidence to re-engage and go back to healthcare, how long might this catch-up take, in Dr. Colleran's opinion?