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

First, I raise the issue of the fair deal scheme, which I was a great believer in because it was helping and assisting in many cases. As late as last night - I will give the House the sums - an elderly couple's fair deal was assessed. They are not wealthy people and do not have much savings. This married couple both had previous spouses who are now deceased. For the gentleman, the fair deal was assessed at €760 per week. They cannot afford that. One might think there was a large amount of property involved or something like that, but I can tell the House that was absolutely not the case. I contacted the fair deal office today to try to get to the bottom of it. When the fair deal is being assessed, we must take into account people's personal ability to pay back the amount of money they are charged. We cannot have a situation where people need to be in a nursing home - it is not that they want to be there; they need to be there - but paying the required amount is putting them under severe financial strain. We, the Minister of State or previous governments did not call it the fair deal for the fun of it. It was supposed to be a fair deal. Unfortunately, it is now becoming a very unfair deal because elderly people are not able to afford it. I ask the Minister of State to please look at that. I will bring some of my cases to the Minister of State and ask her to intervene directly. The simple fact is that I believe they merit and deserve to be looked at and scrutinised in a stronger way.

Earlier today, the Minister of State was present in the Chamber when I raised the issue of the shock announcement issued today by the HSE with regard to the cross-Border directive, that from 1 July 2024 the reimbursable sum is now €863 per cataract removal, down from the previous sum of €1,912. To say this was a shock announcement is an understatement. I have been running a bus taking Kerry people to Belfast for many years. I have a bus fully booked for another ten or 12 days' time. Those people were told how much they would be getting back. I told them they would get €1,912 back. Today, we have to face notifying these people that it will now be €863. This is an issue that deserves urgent and immediate attention. I have a few very clear questions to ask the Minister of State. Why did this happen? Did the Minister of State know it was happening? Did the Minister for Health know it was happening? The Taoiseach, to be fair to him, said he did not know about it when I asked him today. I do not expect the man to know everything like that. We were blindsided by it ourselves, so I am not expecting him to have known about it. People in the Department of Health, however, surely did know it. People in the HSE knew it. When did they find out about it? How long have they known about it? Why are we told only being told about it now? This is probably one of the most important events in the lives of people whose sight is giving them trouble. They are relying on going to the North, where a hospital appointment has been scheduled for them. They are looking forward to this happening. Many of them are elderly and have to go to the North to have their cataract removed. It is either that or go blind. I am asking the Minister of State in the most sincere way to please come back with the answers to the questions I have just asked her.

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