Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Since this is an unorthodox time of social restrictions, my speaking opportunities in this Chamber are rather limited these days. I take the opportunity to express my immense gratitude to our heroic staff, especially our nurses and doctors. When this pandemic is over, we must remember them. That will have to come up in the autumn when we are into the budget process.

As health staff risk life and limb to treat Covid-19 patients, Ms Gemma O'Doherty and her band of followers are flouting all laws on the street, giving cheek to our gardaí, making a farce and being treasonous towards our front-line health staff. I hope the Minister for Justice and Equality will ensure that the laws passed by this House will apply to all individuals and that those who continue to flout them to court notoriety and attention on social media will be taken to task fully.

A constituent in Clare sent me a letter earlier in the week. It relates to her elderly husband who is suffering from advanced cancer. He had been due to undergo surgery at the Bon Secours Hospital at Barringtons in Limerick city on his private health insurance. The family is now being told, however, that due to Covid-19 the surgery cannot be carried out and that man now has to join many others on the public waiting list, a list that is not moving at the moment. This is causing major stress to the family and it is utterly unacceptable. I would like some clarity as to how people with private health insurance will be treated at this time, particularly those with life-threatening illnesses.

At the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, it was right for the Department to strike a deal with 19 private hospitals to increase bed capacity. Now, however, there needs to be a little flexibility regarding those awaiting elective surgery. The word "elective" almost denotes flippancy and casualness, but for someone waiting for a hip replacement or any type of colonoscopy, there is nothing flippant or casual about that. Elective surgery is essential and we need to get that backlog moving. Without an easing of the elective surgery restrictions our health system will be hit with an unmanageable tsunami of cases when the Covid-19 pandemic shifts. I fear that this will disproportionately hit the University Limerick hospitals group, including Ennis hospital in my constituency. The waiting times in University Hospital Limerick have increased by 10% over the past year in respect of outpatient cases and by 12.6% in Ennis hospital in my constituency. These waiting times are only set to get worse as the pandemic drags on, and I would like to know what actions the Minister proposes to take.

I wish also to draw his attention to the fact that administrative staff in our country's now very quiet private hospitals are being laid off. This is fundamentally wrong, given that their places of employment are being very well reimbursed using Exchequer money by the Minister's Department. Will he intervene in this and will he consider using these staff to help with contact tracing?

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