Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is great to have the Minister of State in the House. It is nearly like her Wednesday morning coffee break at this stage. Every Wednesday morning, I have the pleasure of talking to her about health issues in Cork.

I raised this issue about a dedicated cataract service for Cork that has been spoken about for many years. The regional centre that will be based in the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital is a project we have probably been talking about since 2014. It is a project that has cost almost €5 million. I am looking for an update on several aspects of the project.

First, I welcome that the outpatient unit in Ballincollig primary care centre is now up and running. The Minister of State might give me an update on where we are with staffing levels there and the throughput figures to go through that unit. The other issue is that unfortunately the capacity in the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital was projected to be 2,000 cases, but we have issues about where we are with that proposal. That is probably what I am really asking about this morning. The big issue is what is the level of transfer of services from Cork University Hospital, CUH, to the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital. Has there been a full transfer of service? Have we seen the CUH work with outpatients, including the eye clinic and all the other services that are in the CUH at the moment and some that are in the Mercy University Hospital, MUH, coming all the way to this new unit that we have spent almost €5 million on?

There is considerable local concern that the transfer has not happened. This project has been finished for almost 18 or 19 months. It cost €5 million to build. It has the capacity to do more than 2,000 cases per year. Unfortunately, we have a huge waiting list, especially in my part of the world, for this issue. We see people going to Northern Ireland and going to the private centres to get services. We put money behind this project. We planned it in the past decade. We delivered it on the ground. Is it running at full capacity? That is the real issue.

From talking and listening to members of the Joint Committee on Health, I know that last December they were informed that negotiations were still happening between CUH and the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital on this issue. It would be an awful shame - and I am being very polite - if office politics between two hospitals in Cork became the big issue in the transfer of services. We need to ensure the services being talked about and that we put our money and planning into in the past decade can now be delivered on the campus in the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital and the full transfer of all services from CUH and the MUH takes place. February was the date that was mentioned.I am not sure if that can be confirmed this morning, but we need to get clarity because at the moment, unfortunately, there are people of a certain generation or age who feel, rightly or wrongly, that their only avenue is to go to the North, and that is not right. Other people are going through the private sector and facing issues in trying to get funding for that. We need to get clarity in this regard. I hope the Minister of State can bring that clarity to this issue.