Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the additional resources being provided. From speaking to constituents throughout Cavan and Monaghan, and from the point of view of a public representative, I know the personnel in that cross-border directive office are exceptionally helpful and courteous to people, and they go beyond the call of duty to try to help people. It is very important, when the office is under pressure, to recognise the good work they are doing under difficult circumstances.

Most of the people availing of the cross-border directive are aged over 60 or even over 70. We are aware that most of the procedures undertaken are either on hips, knees or cataracts, and it is predominantly the older age groups that need to have those procedures. We are aware that most people who avail of the scheme are pensioners and are on limited incomes. In many instances, as I said, they borrow money, perhaps from family or from a credit union, and they are extremely worried about any delay in being able to pay back the person or the institution they borrowed from. To allay the fears of those people, it is particularly important that payments are made in good time.

My understanding was that, at some stage, the HSE proposed that it wanted a turnaround of 20 working days, which is roughly a month, and I believe that is what we should aspire to. Over the years, there were regulations and legislation stating that Departments and statutory agencies should have a minimum time to pay their debts. In this instance, it is a debt to the patient who has gone and paid their own way initially because of the lack of capacity here. It is a win-win for many patients, but we do not want to have the good taken out of those procedures by having that person worry about the payment.

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