Health Services Staff
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-18
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Michael Murphy (FG), Tipperary South

I thank the Minister of State. I welcome confirmation that there has been concrete interest and that a number of applicants have applied after the most recent recruitment drive. It is important that a permanent consultant ophthalmologist is in place at the earliest opportunity. I also support additional contingency measures and the scoping exercise referred to by the Minister of State, linking in with the Dublin hospital because we have waiting lists. I alluded to the fact 1,800 children, mostly under the age of five are on the waiting list, including Rory and Aoife, who were referred to my office. They are both under the age of five and were referred back on 10 October 2023. Today, I cannot give them any indication of when they may be seen. In early childhood, delays in vision care can unfortunately lead to damage. Parents should not have to travel to different counties, seek private care or wait a minimum of 18 months for assessment.
As I said, I welcome progress finally being made and I hope that through the latest recruitment process we will have a permanent consultant. I thank the Minister and the Minister of State for upgrading the post to a consultant level. I also acknowledge that the other key appointments are already in place. In essence, children cannot wait. They need appointments and they need them urgently. If we have a permanent ophthalmologist in place, we also need to focus on contingency measures that will assist in bringing down the waiting lists at the earliest opportunity. As I said, the children across Tipperary south need these appointments. It is an emergency.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:39+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-18