Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The important thing to note is that the number of patients waiting longer than nine months for a cataract procedure has gone from over 4,300 in July 2017 to 1,078 in August 2018. It is clear that in that 12-month period almost 3,300 people were taken off the list of those waiting in excess of nine months. That is where the focus has been.

If the Senator looks at the earlier figures with regard to the number of patients who have left the list altogether, which states that 83% of the 5,000 person target has been achieved, he will see that the majority of that decrease, 3,000 of more than 4,000 patients, came from the list of those waiting in excess of nine months. The primary focus is on those waiting longer than nine months. They would all be offered treatment. Not everyone would want to accept, but they are the first priority. There would then be a number of exceptions made on clinical grounds and so on. I assume the HSE or a clinical team could make a decision in that regard. The primary focus, however, is on those waiting a long time, as evidenced by the figures which show that 3,300 have left the list of those waiting longer than nine months.