Five-year wait for weight-loss surgery forcing obese people to go to Turkey

On the health budget, the minister Stephen Donnelly would only say there is “a material risk” of more money being needed. File photo: Brian Lawless/PA

Obese people face a five-year wait for bariatric surgery, a delay which is forcing them to travel abroad to often unsafe clinics, the chair of the Oireachtas Health Committee said on Wednesday.

During a discussion on the health budget, fellow committee member David Cullinane said people are “flabbergasted” at the Government setting up a productivity taskforce for the health services.