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

I just wished to signal that it seems to be a concern of the organisation. I am sure it is replicated with others. I am conscious of time but the Irish Lung Fibrosis Association was in with the committee again. I am conscious that there is a new contract for the supply of oxygen. The organisation was saying it had met with the project manager as part of the process and that people were worried about access to oxygen. Its representatives told some really harrowing stories. People were talking about the challenges they were facing in getting oxygen. I realise there is a new supplier and so on but they said it would have been helpful if a note had been sent out to people informing them that there was a new supplier.

On the stories they told us about accessing oxygen, people were saying that, if going for an appointment, they would have to bring their oxygen with them and that challenges arose if the appointment went over time. They talked about a survey of its members the organisation had done. There seems to be a problem in that regard. Again, it is about the roll-out of care in the public system. Will the witnesses address the cost of oxygen and the process of reimbursement, with which there seems to be a problem? These are all issues that can be fixed. While this is a historical problem and there is now a new supplier, the representatives told us that, in some cases, people had to collect the oxygen themselves. Some of these people are chronically ill and find it difficult to leave the house. Some said that, because of challenges in respect of deliveries and so on, they could not leave their home. As I have said, there were are also challenges with regard to reimbursement. Some spoke about trying to fill in forms and the challenges they faced in that regard. As chair of this committee, I ask the witnesses to look at the whole area of the oxygen supply for these people. It would be a really useful piece of work.