Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise to members. There is just not enough time. I would have liked to contribute too. I am bursting with loads of questions but hopefully all members will get to speak next time. In the next session I will try to prioritise those who did not contribute in this session. This meeting was very useful. We touched on a lot of issues. I personally think the two-tier system is at fault. Ms Power is correct that if someone is from a poorer background, it is more likely they are not going to get a scan. If someone has money they can go and get that scan but if they are from a poorer background and they have access to a medical card, it is almost impossible to get a doctor to take them on. It is similar with dentists. Dentists identify a lot of cancers in the mouth and so on but many of them are not taking on medical card patients. The system is stacked against people who are poor, unfortunately. We need to collectively look at that.

I appreciate the witnesses coming in. It was useful and I hope to see them again very shortly. Many of the issues they raised around digitalisation and so on are part of the ongoing work of the committee. We will bring in the Secretary General of the Department to discuss that issue in the coming weeks. I appreciate the witnesses' input in the meeting this morning.