Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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631. To ask the Minister for Health if extra funding will be made available for cataract operations in 2017 and, if so, when. [18264/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Reducing waiting times for the longest waiting patients is one of this Government's key priorities. Consequently, Budget 2017 allocated €20 million to the NTPF, rising to €55 million in 2018.

In December 2016, I granted approval to the NTPF to dedicate €5m to a daycase waiting list initiative with the aim of ensuring that no patient will be waiting more than 18 months for a daycase procedure by 30 June 2017. In excess of 2000 daycases will be managed through this process and outsourcing of treatment has commenced. The focus of this initiative will be those lists with large numbers of long waiting patients including Ophthalmology.

In addition to this Daycase Initiative, the NTPF has been working closely with my Department and the HSE to agree an approach to the remaining 2017 allocation. The HSE is currently developing a 2017 Waiting List Action Plans for Inpatient/Daycase procedures and Outpatient appointments to reduce the number of patients waiting more than 15 months by the end of October. The Inpatient/Day case Plan is being developed in conjunction with the NTPF's approach to the utilisation of its remaining €10m funding for patient treatment in 2017.

In order to reduce the numbers of long-waiting patients, I asked the HSE to develop Waiting List Action Plans for 2017 in the areas of Inpatient Daycase, Scoliosis and Outpatient Services. My Department is currently engaging with the HSE and the NTPF to finalise these plans which I expect to approve shortly.

The HSE is currently finalising the Report of the Primary Care Eye Services Review. The overall aim of the Review is to reorganise primary care eye services with an increased emphasis on maximising delivery of a comprehensive service at primary care level and thereby creating capacity in the acute sector to provide more complex services.