David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I refer to wait times. The target set in Sláintecare was that access to a hospital consultant should take no more than 12 weeks. Figures recently released by the National Treatment Purchase Fund indicate that the number of people waiting to see a consultant had risen again, to 612,283. The number of people waiting for 12 months or more is 249,959, up from 243,000. Has Covid altered or readjusted the timeframes and targets relating to reducing wait times? If the number of people waiting to see a hospital consultant and the number of people waiting more than 12 months have gone up, are the targets relating to reducing the wait time to 12 weeks now under review again, given that Covid has interrupted several core acute services?