Initially, there was “considerable reluctance” among parents, consultants, doctors and nurses in Dublin “to buy into an all-island congenital heart network”. Illustrating the problem, Dr Oslizlok, who chairs the all-island body, highlighted the difficulties encountered when transferring seriously ill children by ambulance between Dublin and Belfast. The Republic and Northern Ireland together have the critical population needed to make centres of excellence viable, he said, adding that the island has “just about sufficient” population for one congenital heart surgery clinic. Meanwhile, the All-Island Cancer Research Institute urged the Oireachtas committee to press for HSE funding for proton therapy for cancer patients in the Republic. Currently, treatment for patients in Britain and Northern Ireland is publicly funded, but people in the Republic must pay for it themselves, even though the expensive treatment can last for months.
