Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have raised one issue on numerous occasions. We seem to be bedevilled by waiting lists in this country for almost everything. There is now a waiting list for everything. That should not be the case. As the new applicants come on stream, some of whom are more urgent than others, do they go onto a waiting list? Is it possible to attack the waiting list from both sides and is that happening? Are the new applicants for screening tests and slide tests added to the tail end of the waiting list that is there? If that is how waiting lists are eroded, it will never happen. There will be a ten-year waiting list before we know where we are. We have discussed this previously. Numerous public bodies have this same tendency towards waiting lists and it is a cushion. It does nothing for health and safety, it does not restore confidence in anybody or in the system, and it is not good for the morale of those working in the system because they are also bedevilled by the constant pressure from people who legitimately criticise the existence of waiting lists. Is the waiting list being controlled and is it being eroded from two sides rather than being extended and saying the service is up to speed?