Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I am puzzled by the Minister's last comment because, too often, cost is a barrier to people accessing care. For cancer patients, in particular, unless they have a medical card or private health insurance, they are faced with a bill of up to €800 per year just to get life-saving treatment. How can the Minister defend that? It is utterly indefensible. While, of course, Sláintecare calls for the removal of all inpatient charges, this is year five of the Sláintecare plan and no progress has been made on that. That is the reason we are asking the Minister to give a commitment, at least. The money involved is minuscule in the context of a €21 billion budget. We are asking the Government to honour the decision it made a couple of weeks ago on the Social Democrats' motion. The Government did not oppose it so, in effect, it is saying the motion was right. Will the Government honour that now and make provision for the removal or waiving of inpatient charges, at least for cancer patients, for the life-saving treatment and care that they must access? Will the Minister set out a clear timescale for that?

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