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

Any new services to be provided in Cork are to be greatly welcomed and I appreciate the Minister sharing that information with us. The problem is that the pandemic has led to enormous waiting lists throughout Cork and the rest of the country. People from Dublin, Waterford, Limerick and elsewhere have contacted me looking for services such as hip, carpal tunnel, knee and obviously mainly cataract surgery. The Minister has said that work is being done on the long-term development of the scheme that is there at present. However, I do not want to find myself in the situation I was in last year, being criticised by those on the Government side saying I was scaremongering and claiming that a long-term scheme was in place.

We still do not have that long-term scheme. The Minister has said it is being worked on. When will funding become available to continue that scheme in the long term? Will that be announced next week or will it go right up to 28 December as it did last year or will it be 1 January next year before we get confirmation? That is not fair for people who are suffering in pain and people who are going blind. They need to know today whether they can go somewhere to have this treatment within two months. Some people have told me they have been waiting for five years, which is incredible.

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