Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I could not agree more. Part of my absolute priority in terms of waiting lists is to make sure that we have the maximum amount of information available to patients, their doctors and the public at large in order that we can make improvements where we need to while also knowing the scale of the challenge. Part of this is electronic records which enable GPs to hear back seamlessly. I will come back to the Chairman on the matter in the context of our plans for 2018. He is right that we will have to do this work differently or we will end up with massive headline numbers without a proper understanding ourselves as to where the challenges lie. As Minister for Health, I want to know where the challenges are in order that we can fix them rather than having a situation whereby people who are not waiting, in effect, in that they have a date three or six months hence because their doctor does not want to see them before then for medical reasons, is counted as waiting. I do not think they think they are waiting and neither do I think they are waiting.