To ask the Minister of Health to outline the criteria that will be used to assess eligibility for treatment under the Waiting List Reimbursement Scheme.

The Scheme has now launched 2 June 2025 and applies the following strict eligibility criteria:

Patients who are ordinarily resident in Northern Ireland; And

Patients who are on a treatment or surgical waiting list within HSC services in Northern Ireland.

The Scheme will be initiated on a phased approach. The first phase will allow reimbursements for treatment in the Republic of Ireland. The second phase will be introduced at a later date subject to remaining available funding and will see the geographical scope of the Scheme expanded to all countries in the European Union

Patients require prior approval from my Department before accessing the Scheme. As the Scheme is only available to pre-authorised treatments, my Department cannot accept retrospective applications.

Details of the application process and accessing funding are now available on the Strategic Planning and Performance Group of the Department of Health’s website.