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

I will end on a comment rather than a question. We were very lucky to have the teams we have had in dealing with this virus. They have done very well. The fight is not over yet, however. The next battle will go into another area, that of enabling the health services to combat the waiting times and problems that have backed up during Covid and that were backing up before that. We do not have the luxury of being able to wait for four or five years. The health services in general, therefore, have a serious issue on their hands, that is, to devise a plan to deal with the backlogs quickly, particularly in respect of acute conditions such as scoliosis. It is really embarrassing that they remain on our radar screens and continue to emerge. I have every confidence in our health services despite the fact that they get a lot of criticism. I have every confidence that they are capable of dealing with the issue but the plan must be drawn up very quickly. If drawn up quickly, the response will be dramatic.