Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is sending a message back to the machine and the system. I appreciate that. I also appreciate the fact that she is taking this issue on behalf of the Minister and answers are not always readily provided to her.

I take some comfort from the fact that the building in Ballincollig is operational and ready for equipping to deliver the integrated eye care service. That gives me grounds for some hope. However, there seems to be a juxtaposition in the reply because the Minister of State's next sentence mentioned that the integrated eye care service "awaits funding approval from the HSE". She also said the stakeholders are meeting tomorrow. I am not directing this at her per sebut in her reply, she said the building in Ballincollig is operational and ready for equipping. I need to know if it is going to be fully funded. The ophthalmology unit based in SIVUH, which cost €5 million, is not operational. I need some comfort for the people I represent in the CHO 4 area in order that I can assure them there will be seamless access to services, whether on a community basis or at consultant level.

The Minister of State made reference to the involvement of community. There is greater scope for community opticians to become involved in all of this but what they are telling me is that the €23 they get per medical card patient is not worth their while, given the associated administrative burden. Some people are leaving the system. If we are talking about a front-door system, where the front door is a GP or community optician, we must make it financially viable for community opticians to be able to deliver more. They cannot do that at €23 per patient because it does not reflect the cost of providing the service.

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