Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Government is accepting dwellings in every other instance, but where the dwelling house is on a farm, it wants the farm and all. That is not right.

I will provide an example of something that happened today. Invariably, I take elderly farmers – recently, I even took a young farmer of 50 years of age – up to Belfast to get their cataracts removed. Today, the HSE has reduced the reimbursement to patients from €1,918 to €863. Many people will not be able to foot this bill and will have to wait two, three or four years for the system in the South to have their cataracts done, be that in Cork, Tralee or wherever. Deputy Michael Collins and I got this going in Dublin in 2017. Since then, we have brought hundreds of busloads up to Belfast to treat people’s eyes. The story is still the same now, with people in the Twenty-six Counties on waiting lists for two, three or four years. Today, the Government cut the reimbursement from €1,918 to €863. I must remind the Minister of State that many of the people going on these buses have to get bridging loans from their credit unions to facilitate their trips. They have to beg, borrow and steal to make up what they have to pay. A 98-year-old woman from west of Dingle got on a bus at 4 a.m. and went off to Belfast. People like that lady, who was determined to save her sight, will be denied that service from now on because they will not be able to match the cost. Will the Minister of State find out what is happening and reverse the HSE’s decision? The HSE’s pricing unit has ordained this change, but it did not do so without the Government’s approval. The HSE could have signalled its intention to make this change from 1 January, but it did it at this time of the year. Deputy Collins and I have arranged for three buses between now and the end of July, but the Government is jeopardising these people and could cause them to go blind. It is not fair.

I appeal to the Minister of State. I supported her in the past and liked various things she said, but I am against her inclusion of farms in the assessment for the fair deal. I appeal to her to do something about the HSE’s decision on reimbursements. I was notified of it today. How it is being done is unfair. It looks like the Government is just trying to stop the scheme at all costs. Maybe it is doing that to help Government candidates get elected and so on. There is some ulterior motive. I ask the Minister of State to look after this.

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