Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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271. To ask the Minister for Health the number of persons on hospital waiting lists which are eligible to avail of the cross-border treatment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7325/16]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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272. To ask the Minister for Health the number of persons on waiting lists from the Fingal area which are eligible to avail of the cross-border treatment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7326/16]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 271 and 272 together.

The EU Directive 2011/24/EU on Patients’ Rights in Cross Border Healthcare aims to ensure EU citizens may access safe and good quality healthcare services across EU borders. The Directive establishes a framework for cross border healthcare between EU/EEA states to facilitate patients to access care in another Member State in accordance with their entitlements in their own country. Under the Directive, known as the Cross Border Healthcare Directive (CBD), insured patients are entitled to have the costs of cross-border healthcare services reimbursed if the healthcare service in question is among the benefits to which they are entitled in their Member State of affiliation. As such, it allows Irish residents to avail of healthcare in other EU or EEA (excluding Switzerland) Member States that they would be entitled to within the public health system in Ireland, which is not contrary to Irish legislation.

Public patients may access the healthcare they require in either the public or private healthcare system of the country abroad under CBD. Access to healthcare abroad is based on patients following public patient pathways - i.e. patients must demonstrate they have followed the equivalent public patient pathways that a patient would follow if accessing public healthcare in Ireland. Referral for care under the CBD may be made by a GP, a hospital consultant and certain other HSE clinicians. The CBD excludes certain health services, e.g. services of public health, long term care, organ transplantation, etc. All persons on public waiting lists, other than for such exempt health services, are eligible for the Scheme.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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273. To ask the Minister for Health the reason those availing of the cross-border treatment scheme have to pay for their treatment abroad up-front; if he is aware that this is not a requirement; if he will consider facilitating access to this scheme without up-front payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7327/16]

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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The EU Directive 2011/24/EU on Patients’ Rights in Cross Border Healthcare aims to ensure EU citizens may access safe and good quality healthcare services across EU borders. Under the Directive, known as the Cross Border Healthcare Directive (CBD), insured patients are entitled to have costs of cross-border healthcare services reimbursed if the healthcare service in question is among the benefits to which they are entitled in their Member State of affiliation. The HSE endeavours to reimburse the cost of treatment incurred or the cost of providing such healthcare in the State, whichever is the lesser, to the applicant within 30 days of receipt of a claim for reimbursement, in line with Prompt Payment legislation.

Each Member State is free to set its own payment policy for cross-border healthcare services; by means of reimbursement to the patient or by direct payment to the healthcare provider. That policy decision is a matter for each Member State under the Directive and, similar to the majority of Member States, Ireland has no plan to introduce a policy of direct payment to each healthcare service provider, both public and private, in all EU/EEA Member States for healthcare services provided by them.