Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, to the House. I put down this Commencement matter some time back. There are two aspects. One concerns the primary eye care report, which has been published, so I do not need to dwell on it. I thank the Minister and the Department for issuing that report. It was long-awaited and I understand it is currently being studied.

The next aspect concerns the definitive lists in regard to cataract procedure waiting times, which are enormous. While we have heard suggestions anecdotally about the number of cases, I have the latest numbers as I made contact with the National Treatment Purchase Fund this morning. These numbers are quite shocking and show we clearly have a major crisis in the whole area of ophthalmology. To share some figures with the Minister of State, this very day there are 36,581 people on the NTPF list for the outpatient specialties, with the longest waiters - those waiting 18 months and over - numbering over 5,500. The NTPF assured me this morning that these people could be waiting two, three, four or five years.

The Minister of State might take this information back to the line Minister. The NTPF has a format in regard to reporting, which goes from five months all the way up to 18 months, but after the 18-month category, there is no other category. There is a lot to be said for extending this to include the two-year, three-year and four-year categories. We need to find out the facts. The NTPF mandate is to treat those waiting longest for treatment, and I believe this is very important.

I want to also share the statistics for inpatient case specialties. There are approximately a further 13,000 people waiting for inpatient treatment, of whom 825 are waiting more than 18 months. While these figures do not all relate to cataracts, but to ophthalmology generally, I am advised that a very high percentage of those people have cataracts. What is really disturbing for these 36,000 people who are waiting on the outpatient list is that many of them have not been seen - they have never met a consultant to have a full eye assessment. Time is everything with the eyes, as with health in general, as the Minister of State knows.

I am concerned. I would like the Minister of State to share his knowledge and that of the Department on the exact numbers on the cataracts list. Has the NTPF been mandated to ramp up its capacity through funding resources and beds, given many of these are day procedures, to deal with people who have cataracts and cannot see? It is a very simple procedure and could be ramped up with very little intervention.

To conclude, there are three points. First, there is the issue of the lists. Second, can we look again at how ophthalmology is reported in the NTPF's database so we can specifically see the figures for cataracts? The final point is that there is a crisis and it needs to be addressed quickly. To have people waiting a substantial number of years without an assessment is unacceptable. I ask that the Minister of State would bring this back to the Department to see whether it can put in place specific measures to ramp up an initial assessment for everyone who presents and has been referred for an ophthalmology procedure.