Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join with colleagues in welcoming our guests and thanking them for being with us. This is an important discussion. The degree to which we have succeeded in mitigating the potential worst impacts of Brexit is a marvellous credit to our public service, political leadership and diplomatic service. We have done that successfully in so many ways and this is another example of it. I want to ask about the timescale. Am I right in understanding that within 2022 the Department hopes to have the new scheme up and running? Does the Department see any potential changes in the scheme based on learnings from today? Are any modifications being looked at?

I have another question which is not dissimilar to the last question from my colleague, Senator Wall. Through my office I dealt with some cases of this recently and it is marvellous the degree to which the entire exercise can end with people receiving healthcare within weeks. There is a domestic initiative in the South to deal with waiting lists being brought forward, which is necessary and which will be a great thing. Despite that there should be a bulge in the numbers of those seeking and needing to go to the North next year. Will there be a capacity problem and will that result in waiting lists? Could we have two sets of bad waiting lists, North and South, which would be a great problem were it to be the case? I am encouraged to hear that the waiting list for ophthalmology cataracts is coming down south of the Border. We all know through our direct interactions with people in work that this can be a serious issue, particularly for older persons living alone. Will there be any change or will there be a problem around capacity because of the potential growth of numbers from the Republic, given the waiting lists here? Those lists are an understandable product of the pandemic but they will be addressed.

Since they have done so on ophthalmology in an encouraging way, maybe the witnesses would specifically comment on capacity in orthopaedics and where we are there? That is another impactful matter that affects our older population a lot. I will leave it at that; there is inevitably a level of overlap in the questions as the discussion progresses but it is important that we contribute, welcome what is happening here and urge that it continue to happen with the greatest possible alacrity in the interests of the people we represent.