Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To follow up briefly on the last Deputy's question, the number of people currently waiting for a cataract operation in Ireland is 8,667. That is down from 10,304 in April, so there has been a 25% reduction already in the number of people waiting for cataract procedures. We anticipate that continuing to fall in the months ahead. The 8,667 people are waiting for any amount of time. In some cases they might be waiting for a long period while some might only be waiting a few weeks.

On the questions put by Deputy Shortall, following our interaction and the Deputy's correspondence to me, I took the decision that it would be more appropriate to have an independent person, a senior counsel, rather than a civil servant carry out the investigation of why certain documents were not discovered and provided to the Charleton tribunal. I am advised by the Minister for Justice and Equality that the senior counsel has been asked to do the work but has not yet confirmed his acceptance of that offer or request. As soon as the person gets back to us and tells us whether he will do it, I will be happy to provide the name to the Deputy.

I do not have the terms of reference with me. Generally, they would be agreed with the senior counsel. It would be appropriate for the person carrying out the investigation to determine why these emails were not discovered and provided to the tribunal, and also to determine if there are any other emails or documents that ought to have been discovered and were not and should now be provided to the tribunal as well.

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