James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This Bill expands eligibility for GP care without charge on a phased basis and increases the gross medical card income limits for persons over 70 years of age, which I welcome. I will take the opportunity to congratulate the Minister on his appointment to the Cabinet. It is an extraordinarily difficult time for anyone working in the healthcare sector and I am sure he will excel in his portfolio. We are counting on him.

The Bill is a welcome step towards fairer and more affordable care over the Government's lifetime. It is essential that we continue putting provisions in place to ensure that there is care in the community and that it is at the heart of our health services. Making the vast majority of healthcare services available in the home or close to home rather than in our hospitals is the right step forward. Having care in the community would be a major benefit to people in my constituency of Cork East. During the Covid-19 pandemic when we want to put as little pressure on our hospitals as possible, any step towards providing primary healthcare services makes more sense than ever. I hope that this is the first step on a path to developing community healthcare networks to support the expansion of services based on the need and size of local populations. Increasing the eligibility criteria under the Bill will be helpful in delivering that.

Places like Youghal are in vital need of primary healthcare centres. It is not right that a town with a population of more than 8,000 and many more living in its catchment area - there was a population increase there of nearly 9% between 2011 and 2016, which was far above the national average of 3.8% - still does not have access to primary healthcare services.

6 o’clock

Short-term emergency measures will be important until such time as the Government can put in place strategies to address the shortfalls in places such as my home town of Youghal. An issue that came up repeatedly during the general election campaign was the lack of access to healthcare services for many new residents living in east Cork. There is enormous pressure on the Government to try address that crisis. I look forward to working with the Minister on the matter.

In recent times there has been a great deal of fear among people accessing their local health services in health centres and hospitals because of the pandemic. It is an understandable fear. It is important that we put in place alternative arrangements for such individuals, for example, telemedicine, by means of which they will be able to have access to medical professionals. We need to look to provide additional services that complement our healthcare services. The World Health Organization defines telemedicine as the delivery of healthcare services, where distance is a critical factor, by all healthcare professionals using information and communication technologies for the exchange of valid information for diagnosis, treatment and the prevention of disease and injuries, research and evaluation and for the continued education of healthcare providers, all in the interest of advancing the health of individuals for their communities. There is huge potential for the application of this across our healthcare service. It would go a long way to ensuring that citizens of this country have access to the medical services they need. In terms of the pandemic, it will dramatically increase the accessibility and safety of care and reduce the use of individual protection equipment and allow doctors under quarantine to continue to work if in a position to do so by expanding the available the human resources to our health services. It could also be used as a training tool to ensure that our medical students continue to have access to medical education during the pandemic. Looking to the future, there are advantages in terms of reduced travel costs for the patient and an increase in accessibility for individuals with mobility difficulties and the potential for the globalisation of medicine with patients being able to obtain expert opinions at great distance quickly via virtual means, which is encouraging.

Across east Cork there is a huge level of research and development ongoing and there is currently much talent and potential. Telemedicine assists in the sharing of this expertise and ensures that it gets to people that are most in need of it. There are some obstacles in regard to telemedicine in the future, such as data privacy and confidentiality, but it would be unwise of this House to not explore such complementary forms of medical provision, especially considering the Covid pandemic in which we currently find ourselves. Affordability is a vital issue when it comes to healthcare provision. I recognise the good work that is being done by way of this Bill.

As already stated, we need to look at areas such as east Cork, which I represent, where there are problems areas for people in accessing healthcare services, as well as the issue of affordability. I wish the Minister all the best and I look forward to working with him.

See this speech in context