Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 2 July 2025
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health
Management of Hospital Waiting Lists and Insourcing and Outsourcing of Treatment: Discussion
2:00 am
Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
I welcome Mr. Gloster and his team. Through the National Treatment Purchase Fund and the cross-Border initiative, the HSE has succeeded in reducing waiting times, which is obviously very welcome. Over the years, patients from County Kerry have been travelling in big numbers to Belfast and the taxpayer is obviously footing the bill for that. Why do they have to travel to Northern Ireland? The UK is not cheap by any means. Is it that it can provide this service cheaper and, if so, why is that? What is the difference in monetary terms? Is the difference about value for money? What is it about the health service that costs are spiralling out of control, as we see every day, month and year? When will all this end? The public is outraged, and rightly so, about the stories coming out all the time. They deserve answers.
Is anyone present a director of a company outside the HSE or involved in insourcing of any type? I wanted to ask that question for transparency.
Oireachtas Members are coming across difficult, complicated and very serious surgery cases. Is there any individual or section of the Department that can help us progress these cases? I believe Mr. Gloster met Davin Godfrey at one stage in north Kerry.
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