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

What steps have we taken, for example, to provide services in our public hospitals outside regular hours? I refer to using operating theatres for ten, 12 or 20 hours, or whatever the case may be, to reduce the backlog. Mr. Reid said this is not going to happen in a year. In a year's time, the waiting lists will still be what they are now, with another year's worth of patients added. The process will have repeated in the same way in two years' time. Rather than allowing things to continue in this way, it is imperative that we use emergency measures to deal with the existing backlog and to prevent it from increasing.