Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

In the his reply to the question on 6 June, the Minister went on to state that it had been "agreed in the interim that any planned and agreed changes in referrals-catchment areas should not impact on patients who are already on a waiting list in a particular hospital or are patients in long term care/treatment". That is fine in terms of those who are already there, but these are important decisions. Where are these decisions being made? Who is making determinations of changes in catchment areas? Who is the body of persons entrusted with this task? Is there any engagement with the public in terms of the raft of experiences? We have only cited one in terms of the question for written answer on 6 June.

What can the Minister advise in the current examination of all this? Is it within the HSE, are there specific catchment areas properly and officially recognised by the HSE in relation to these hospitals, and can the Minister provide us with copies of that information?

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