Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I feel sorry for the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, who was shoved in here to take this. Harris was here but he fled when someone wanted to come in to talk because he cannot face the heat in the kitchen.

Last year I had confirmation of patients in Tipperary who were routinely waiting for 51 months for an appointment with a consultant urologist at University Hospital Waterford, UHW. This is absolutely outrageous. What is worse is that it is not getting any better. The problem is literally deepening with every passing week. I have had to make representations to UHW for a constituent and was told that the waiting time for urology was 48 months - four years. In a Third World country it would not happen. Less than a month after that, I was informed that the waiting time for the same consultant was now 51 months, steadily approaching five years. Every week, the waiting time is increasing by a month. What on earth is going on when it takes nearly five years for a patient to be seen? Has the Government no shame and no moral compass that it would allow that to happen? It is getting worse by the hour.

My main concern is that in the intervening time period, what might initially have been a routine or non-urgent case may develop into something far more invasive and dangerous. The people of Tipperary and the south east generally are appalled by this kind of service. I am also aware that even urgent ear, nose and throat patients can now expect to wait between 15 and 18 months. This would not be tolerated in any democracy. The Government is just hiding behind the HSE. In any other democracy, the Minister, Deputy Harris, would be long gone. He would have been long gone with the cervical scandal but the Government wanted to get the referendum over the line. It stuck together like glue to get that over. Where is the compassion now for women or patients? It is disgusting. It gets worse and worse; to hell with the people. Let them eat cake. Let them do what they like. Let them die on the side of the road or whatever. Next the Government will probably want to bring in euthanasia to get rid of them. It is nothing short of a disgrace and I do not know how the Government has the guts or moral feeling to listen to this puppet Minister who would not even come to the House to listen. He is nothing short of a puppet.

See this speech in context