Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Unfortunately, in this House we are all aware of the ongoing waiting lists for our citizens, many of them elderly, who are seeking outpatient procedures or surgeries. These include hip or knee replacements etc.Unfortunately, people have languished on the waiting lists for years and many of them have suffered pain and discomfort, which interfered with their qualify of life.

The cross-border health directive is one avenue that has been pursued by many citizens and it has proved quite successful. People can avail of the option to get their procedure carried out much sooner north of the Border or, indeed, abroad. Like many of my colleagues in this House, I have been contacted many times on the cross-border health directive. The initiative has received more air time and more people have availed of it in recent times, so much so that it has been estimated that the workload of the people working in that office has increased by 1,200%. I was shocked to learn that there are only 11 people working on all of the applications made to the office by people living in this country. Clearly, more staff must be recruited to ensure that the scheme functions properly. Our focus should be on the people who have waited years for medical procedures. We must ensure that the scheme runs efficiently and that the people who wish to avail of the scheme can do so in a timely manner.

I understand that the staffing shortage has been raised with the HSE management at national level. I respectively ask the Leader to bring the matter to the attention of the Minister for Health. As I have said, the people on the lists have waited and suffered in silence for years, many of whom are elderly. I ask the Leader to urge the Minister to deploy more staff to the office, thus ensuring that more citizens can have medical procedures carried out as efficiently as possible.