Conor Murphy (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I raise the issue of access to all-Ireland healthcare. Representatives of the special EU programmes body and Co-operation and Working Together, CAWT, appeared before the Good Friday Agreement committee this week and provided some excellent examples of collaboration and co-operation, particularly in the Border area, where CAWT operates North and South. However, significant barriers remain to accessing critical treatments and care. There are issues with data sharing, which will be critical to resolve in advancing an all-Ireland approach to health services.

There have been notable successes over the years. Being able to avail of cardiology services for children in Dublin has stopped children from having to travel from the North to Britain for those services. The cancer treatment service at Altnagelvin hospital, which serves the north west, has proven to be a great success. The Taoiseach has stated that cancer knows no borders and has lauded the Altnagelvin centre, noting that patients in the north west can access services locally and remain close to friends and families when receiving treatment.

Unfortunately, there are still situations where that is not possible. A woman from my area of south Armagh, Catherine Sherry, had to travel to England for what she and her family hoped was potentially life-saving treatment. She made a number of preparatory trips and made inquiries as to whether she could have the treatment in Dublin. The response was that there was a capacity issue even though services in Dublin and London share the same laboratories in Europe, meaning it should have been possible for her to be treated here. Tragically for her family, she died in England, separated from her children, other family members and her friends. The family was told that it was hoped the capacity issue would be resolved within a six-year timeframe.

When the Minister of Health in the North attended a meeting of the Good Friday Agreement committee last December, he cited the lack of capacity issues in terms of people from the North being able to avail of critical treatment in the South. The Minister for Health has made no response to that statement. This is a matter of real concern. We have seen very good examples of collaboration in services preventing people from having to travel off the island, which is exhausting and damaging to their health and their outcomes. That was particularly so in the case of Mrs. Sherry in my part of the world.

Will the Deputy Leader ask the Minister for Health to give a statement to the Seanad on the extent of all-Ireland co-operation in healthcare and the barriers that still exist? My experience of having held ministerial posts is that these things will only be driven by collaboration between the two Ministers North and South. It is from there that the drive for proper action and outcomes comes. I would like to hear about the programme for collaboration to end the practice of people having to leave the island for critical treatment, how it is progressing, what the barriers are and how we can all assist in ensuring those barriers are removed to allow people to access the services they need.