Cecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)

I ask the Minister to bring to the attention of the Minister for Health and Children that the fundamental question I raised was not answered in the reply given. Are people who have been waiting for operations for more than three months treated as a matter of priority, or must they wait until the 400 people on the waiting list have been dealt with before they are treated as priority cases? This is a difficulty I foresee. We do not want a position to develop whereby people, because they live in Letterkenny or elsewhere in Donegal, must wait longer for treatment, until the longer waiting list is dealt with first, whereas people who live in any other part of the country, who are eligible for treatment under the fund, would be able to obtain it under the fund. Patients do not have to wait longer for treatment in the rest of the country. However, I appreciate the investment in this area to date.