Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)

I thank Mr. Gloster and the team for coming today. This meeting has certainly been very informative. In the past two years, appointments in University Hospital Limerick had to be cancelled on a number of days because of emergencies in the emergency department. Has that had a knock-on effect on waiting lists? While I understand that some of the waiting lists have come down, others are still over 12 months and 24 months. I ask the witnesses to comment on that.

I remember a report in October of 2024 which showed that the majority of people waiting in UHL were waiting for cardiology, vascular surgery, dermatology and endocrinology services. These are pretty serious issues that people have. Have the waiting lists come down for those services?

The numbers of children waiting on dental care have increased. There are not enough dentists, although there are plans in place to expand the number of people qualifying as dentists. I ask for comment on that. In the school services dentists have to decide what child is critical and needs to be seen next ahead of another child. That is a shocking revelation. I ask the witnesses to comment on those three issues.