Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to present this issue to the House at the eleventh hour. He did so because it is a time sensitive issue. With regard to health advice on cataract care, the HSE's website states:

[A] cataract will continue to develop, and the only way to restore vision is by having surgery to remove the cataract. Cataract surgery is one of the most common and quickest forms of surgery.

According to the Association of Optometrists Ireland, at the end of 2017 some 40,000 people were on the outpatient list waiting for that surgery. Its statistics show that the problem has deteriorated since; the number of people on the waiting list has increased by 21%. The largest proportion of the waiting list for eye surgery relates to cataracts, with 8,500 people waiting for surgery at the end of 2017, including some who have been waiting for up to four years in certain parts of the country.

I want to talk about a man in my area. He is housed by the council in a nice apartment, but he is a poor man. He lives on the carer's allowance. His wife has MS, and he is her carer. She is on disability allowance. Patrick Foley is 42 and is the carer for his wife, Carmel. He has been on the waiting list for cataract surgery for three years now. He is suffering from blinding headaches while waiting for this surgery and he is starting to go blind. His eyesight has started to deteriorate more rapidly recently, and his GP has written several referral letters to the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital. He was advised to look at the cross-Border healthcare scheme. To do this he needs to find someone to care for his wife. His eyesight is so bad that he will do anything to get surgery. He does not have the financial means to save up or bring the money forward or to go to a credit union for a loan. My office has continually asked the HSE to make an exception in this case, where this man cannot get the funding upfront. I have asked that an allowance be made in these circumstances and the HSE's answer has been "No". However, considering that this man is a carer and has been on the list for some time, and the fact that he may go blind and that his wife may be taken into care, the State is cutting off its nose to spite its face by not paying upfront for Patrick to have this cross-Border treatment, or, preferably, to have the surgery carried out here.

People who can afford to pay wait for three months. People like Patrick have to wait for three years. The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection told Patrick that the emergency needs payment would not cover him when the responsibility lies with another Department, which in this case is the Department of Health. I wrote to the HSE to highlight the urgency of this case, but to date I have received no reply. He is going to go blind unnecessarily, and is suffering terribly in the meantime. This is happening as a result of our failed health system. If Patrick had money he would be sorted out, but because he is poor and does not have the money, he is suffering unnecessarily and will go blind. That is why we needed to bring this matter to the urgent attention of the Minister of State. His needs have to be met. Judging by the state of our home help care, I do not believe the needs of his wife will be met urgently.

It is startling that the National Council for the Blind of Ireland, NCBI, has been pushing hard for the State to invest more money in this area. Some additional funding was provided this year to the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, but it does not cater for people who cannot pay upfront. I am quite sure that the case of Patrick Foley is not an isolated one. I do not know whether the Minister of State has come across Patrick - she is a local Deputy in his constituency - but I have witnessed how rapidly his eyesight is disappearing and how desperately his life his changing. We need to do something. We must find a way for some Department to pay for the surgery he needs upfront to allow him to live his life with full eyesight.

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