Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I visited Sligo and Donegal for meetings recently and while I was there, I spoke to parents and families who are dependent on health services in the North. They are neighbours. It is very close. As we have said - I will not be the first or the last to say it - disease does not recognise a border. I do not either but certainly, disease definitely does not. These people are very dependent on the health services north of the Border. They cross it, on a daily or weekly basis, to get treatment that they cannot get in this State and they cannot get close to their own homes.

They were very concerned about the prospect of a hard Border. In fact, the day I was in Donegal was the day on which it was reported that a Department was sourcing portakabins or other likely facilities for the erection of a border.

That is probably what put it onto our agenda, as it is never far from their minds. They were very concerned about the impact of a hard Border on their health and the health of their families. They had no sense that day that the Government understands the extent to which they depend on the services of their near neighbour.

Equally, I spoke to a woman in Swords in my constituency when I was canvassing two or three weeks ago. She had waited years for a medical procedure. She did not have it done in this State but went to England to have the procedure performed there under the cross-border health directive. She had a simple question for me, which was whether, if she ended up in a situation where she requires the procedure again after Brexit, she will able to rely on the cross-border health directive. Experience has taught her that she clearly cannot rely on the State or the HSE to provide the procedure, as she was obliged to travel to England to avail of it there. As it happens, being a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health I knew I was due to meet with senior officials from the Department of Health to discuss Brexit, so I told the lady with some confidence that I would come back to her with an answer in a matter of weeks.

When the senior officials from the Department of Health attended the meeting I asked them some relatively easy questions about the extent to which we rely not only on health services in the North but also on the NHS in England, Scotland and Wales. The answer I was given by these high powered members of the Department who are dealing with Brexit on our behalf was somewhat shocking, but quite instructive as to the Department's attitude. When I asked if they had quantified the extent to which we are reliant on the NHS for the provision of health care that is not provided in this State their answer was: "The HSE runs a national contact and reimbursement service for the directive. We have requested more detailed analysis and that is awaited." I was advised that it would not take long. I asked them when they had sought this. Obviously, they have had months to seek this information. Incidentally, I omitted to mention that the opening statement alluded to the fact that Brexit was a massive priority for the Department, that the Department was on top of it and that it was very confident - the officials used the word "confident" several times - about its ability to deal with it. However, when I asked when they had sought this important information for anybody considering Brexit and the health service, I was advised that the more detailed breakdown was requested in recent weeks "when we knew we were coming before the committee". That makes it clear that nobody was seeking this information and nobody was on top of this issue to any great extent. It was only at the prompting of an invitation to appear before the Joint Committee on Health that any serious questions were asked.

I returned to my constituent and told her what had happened. She was not impressed and neither am I. People outside the Chamber will not be too impressed that it was only on the prompting of a committee that this information was sought. I am concerned that issues such as the service level agreement with Altnagelvin Area Hospital have not been Brexit-proofed. Nobody in the Department has taken responsibility for this issue. We will sleepwalk into a situation where vital services will be cut off unless the Government grasps this issue and instructs its officials to take it seriously. I believe the officials are taking their lead from the Ministers. They are not concerned about it. The Ministers are not concerned about it so why should they be?

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