Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am afraid I do not have specific information relating to University Hospital Kerry in front of me but I will certainly ask the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, to provide the information to the Deputies from Kerry, or perhaps it could be raised as a Topical Issue matter.

For the information of the House, when it comes to operations and procedures, it is one of the areas where we are seeing some real progress. The number of people waiting for a procedure - hips, eyes, cataracts, knees and angiograms - is down on this time last year and 59% of patients are now waiting less than six months for those procedures, so it is one of the areas, unlike outpatients, unfortunately, where we are seeing some real progress.

I can also confirm to the House that, this morning, the Cabinet approved the appointment in principle of a new chairperson for the new board of the Health Service Executive, Ciarán Devane, who is a former member of the board of NHS England, and chief executive officer, CEO, of the British Council. He is somebody who has experience heading up a cancer charity and has degrees from both University College Dublin and the George Washington University. I believe it is a very positive appointment and he will go before the Committee on Health for confirmation.

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