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

I will just reiterate that the HSE website states: "Cataract surgery is one of the most common and quickest forms of surgery". It also says that this surgery will help to save sight. The NCBI has said that waiting lists are out of control. That is much more shocking when we consider that 75% of sight loss is avoidable. That organisation has called on the Minister for Health to publish the implementation of the primary eye case services report, which was expected in the summer of 2015 and still has not been published.

I acknowledge that the Minister of State will not know the detail of the individual case I have brought before her, but with all due respect, nothing in her answer shows that any consideration is given to those who cannot afford to pay up front for the NTPF. The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection will not pay it and the HSE will not answer. Meanwhile this man, who is a carer for his wife, is going blind. If I have one example of this, a man in the Minister of State's constituency, there must be dozens of others.

The NCBI and Dr. David Keegan, a consultant ophthalmic surgeon, have been campaigning for this national vision strategy for the past six years. Dr. Keegan has warned us that we have a national scandal on our hands. Medics have also warned that the long waiting lists are particularly harsh on patients whose deterioration in sight could be reversed. That is the case for Mr. Patrick Foley. His problem is that he is poor. He does not have the money to pay for the surgery up front, and no matter what Department we turn to, everybody is ignoring him as though he was not a human being, not to mention his wife, whom he looks after. This is shocking in the 21st century and the fastest-growing economy in Europe. I recognise that the NTPF is trying to deal with the backlog, but there are some people who fall through the cracks. They are the people who are the most vulnerable, the weakest and the least represented. I am asking the Minister of State to intervene on behalf of her constituent, Patrick Foley, and ensure that he is looked after by the NTPF, or preferably gets the eye surgery he needs in this State before the man goes blind.

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