Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Last night, the 'Belfast or Blind' bus no. 63 arrived back in Cork and Kerry. It was the second of two buses in three days which were full of people relieved to have had eyesight-saving surgery in Belfast under the cross-Border directive, where those people in the Republic on a waiting list for operations, such as for a cataract, can have the procedure done in the North and then be reimbursed. In recent months, in respect of the thousands of people in pain and going blind, I have tried to get clarity regarding if and what type of a scheme will be in place in the months to come, but to no avail.

On 25 November, the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, told us that the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, has tasked departmental officials "with examining the feasibility of implementing" a cross-Border-type arrangement. The Minister of State went on to say "That work, which is detailed and complex" was underway, and the Minister for Health sent me a letter to the same effect the other day.

In The Southern Star, my local newspaper, this morning the Fine Gael Senator Tim Lombard, stated my call for clarity on the scheme and its continuation was grossly irresponsible and that I was scaremongering, that Fine Gael had secured a deal last year and that he had no doubt that deal meant things would continue as before for everyone seeking surgery abroad. The Taoiseach, the Minister for Health and the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, were unable to announce any new cross-Border deal in the last two weeks. Can the Tánaiste explain the new cross-Border scheme to which Senator Lombard has referred?

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