Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That is exactly the point I was making. The public does not need to be on board for Sláintecare. That is a reconfiguration plan. One needs clinicians, GPs and the HSE. What the public wants is timely and affordable access to high-quality care. I take Dr. Burke's point that it is important to make Sláintecare real to the public by reducing costs. I am asking a slightly different question. The waiting lists have now got so bad that people are dying while on waiting lists waiting to see doctors. That is happening. I am meeting the parents of children who are dying because they cannot get access to surgeons. That is the reality today. In Cork, a child will wait three and a half years to get access to special needs intervention. In St. James's Hospital there is now a six-year wait to see a specialist in urology. It is getting worse.

I take Dr. Burke's point but I do not fully agree with it that one makes Sláintecare real for the public by reducing financial barriers. I believe we have to make it real for people by cutting down these completely unacceptable waiting lists. Does Dr. Burke see specifics in Sláintecare that would quickly begin to address the waiting times?