I want to raise the issue of waiting times as per the programme for Government, page 60. I had a case recently of a lady who was waiting for a simple eye procedure to improve her quality of life. She received a letter on 19 February stating that she will not get an appointment for three years. Can the Minister look into this? The other options are still not improving the waiting times. We had a similar case about 12 months ago and the waiting time at that stage was 24 months. It appears the waiting list in this area is disimproving. Can the Minister assist on this?

While I cannot comment on individual cases, in respect of cataract procedures - the Deputy mentioned eyes - in July of last year there were 6,060 people waiting on the cataracts list. That fell to 3,753 in December and is now 3,273. We now have nearly 55% of people receiving a cataract procedure in less than six months and I expect that to continue to improve. If the Deputy sends me the details I can have the HSE look at the individual case.