Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have no argument with the Deputy. We all want what is best for the patient.

In light of the concerns the Deputy has raised and the fact that when people are informed by their GP or other professional and they go to a consultant in the hospital, somewhere along the way the message may get lost that there is another way forward. I do not have the specific answer on why the consultants and surgeons are not able to cope with the numbers that need operations and assessments. I do not have anything further to add but I will relay the Deputy's concerns to the Minister and hopefully over the next week he will be able to give the Deputy some insight into why so many people have decided to go abroad because of the lack of theatre space or surgeons to perform the operations in our own country. I will ask the Minister to reply directly to the Deputy.

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