Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I assure Deputies that I will make known their strong feelings on this matter to the Department and the HSE. I will have to get Deputy Butler the detail on the exceptional circumstances ground. I suspect it is a clinical matter but I can find out exactly what it means. While I suspect GPs are aware of what is involved, I can get her the detail on what are those exceptional circumstances.

The Deputies asked why the scheme is restricted to those aged up to 21 years. This is an era of finite not infinite resources and with any scheme like this there are two aspects. There is the affordability aspect and there is also the question of ensuring something is a good and efficient product. The decision taken has been to provide for a 12-month trial period and to review the efficacy of the device at that stage to determine whether it is an efficient treatment which, in layman's terms, does what it says on the tin. As resources allow, we will progress it. We all want to see it extended to the whole population, but we have to begin somewhere as we did with the roll-out of free GP care. It is not a question of discriminating against a cohort of people, it is a question of starting somewhere. Earlier intervention with younger people was deemed to be a priority by the group looking at this.

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