Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The responses given by the Minister and the Taoiseach are outdated. I have already brought the problems to the attention of the Minister for Health. I have brought specialists from County Kerry to sit down with the Minister and outline the problems. However, to date, the Minister, the Department and the Government have failed to do what they are supposed to do, which is to take care of sick people. The Government is not taking care of people who are in distress and awaiting knee or hip replacement operations; rather, it is telling them that they have to wait endlessly. Were it not for the great service provided under the treatment abroad scheme, many people would go blind. Last weekend I arranged for 14 people to travel in a bus to the North to undergo cataract operations. It is ridiculous to have to do this. It is great that the service is available. However, rather than it only being necessary to avail of it to undergo cataract surgery, people will have to travel abroad for todnsillectomies and hip and knee replacement operations. For God's sake, are we going to tell people not to get sick in Ireland because they will have to travel to hospitals in the North for treatment? It is absolutely ridiculous. It is being allowed to happen by the Government and its Ministers. They must wake up to the problems on the ground and, please, do something to help those who are ill.

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