Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

297. To ask the Minister for Health if discussions are expected to allow cataract operations to be carried-out privately in Ireland to medical-card patients and reimbursed to persons, in the same way as the Cross-Border Directive (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54006/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Health Act 1970 (as amended) provides for two categories of eligibility for persons ordinarily resident in the country, i.e. full eligibility (medical card holders) and limited eligibility (all others). Adults with full eligibility can access a range of services including GP services, prescribed drugs and medicines, all in-patient public hospital services in public wards, including consultants’ services, all out-patient public hospital services including consultants’ services, dental, ophthalmic and aural services and appliances, and maternity and infant care service.

Persons with limited eligibility are eligible for in-patient and outpatient public hospital services including consultant services, Emergency Department or minor injury care, are subject to certain charges. Other services such as allied healthcare professional services may also be made available to persons with limited eligibility. The EU Cross Border Directive (CBD) provides rules for the reimbursements to patients of the cost of receiving treatment abroad, where the patient would be entitled to such treatment in their home Member State, and supplements the rights that patients already have at EU level. The CBD enables persons resident in the State to access and be reimbursed for healthcare in another Member State by the HSE, provided such healthcare is publicly available within Ireland. Where a person accesses private healthcare in Ireland there is no facility for the cost of that care to be reimbursed by the public health system.

Within Ireland, it is recognised that waiting times for scheduled appointments and procedures have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2022 Waiting List Action Plan allocated €350 million to the HSE and NTPF to reduce acute scheduled care waiting lists. Under this Plan, the Department, HSE, and NTPF are delivering additional capacity for the treatment of patients, as well as investing in longer term reforms to bring sustained reductions in waiting lists, including in the area of ophthalmology. The Waiting List Action Plan identifies 15 high volume procedures, one of which is cataract operations, and provides a commitment that by end-2022 anybody waiting more than 6 months who is clinically suitable will receive an offer of treatment by the NTPF. As of the 11th October, 81% of patients waiting for one of the high-volume procedures have been authorized by the NTPF to receive an offer of treatment.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

298. To ask the Minister for Health the reason that speech and language therapy has not been available for in-patients at Monaghan Hospital in recent weeks; when such therapy services will resume; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54029/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.