Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have to time my interventions. I am not sure whether Deputies want me to answer now or at the end.

The Deputy and others have been raising this for many months and I have, not for the first time, said we have to wait and see what the deal looks like before having detail and clarity around what replaces what was there previously. This is the responsibility of the Department of Health but my clear understanding is that the ability to travel from the South to the North for medical operations will continue under the new arrangements. The full intention of the Government is that, whether it is cataracts or knees, we will be able to use the excess capacity that is available in hospitals in Northern Ireland for patients who cannot get that pace of delivery of service in hospitals here.

Obviously, the priority is to build capacity in our own hospital systems in order that people do not have to cross the Border, but I acknowledge the Deputy's involvement and that of others in the cross-Border support from a health perspective.

The cross-border directive, as it was, does not apply any longer because it cannot legally. We have to put in place an alternative system that effectively does something very similar in terms of outcome to what was there before. My understanding is the Department of Health is absolutely committed to doing that.

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