Ms Eilísh Hardiman:

I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to elaborate on that. Our board has taken this very seriously. With due credit to the previous hospitals, we tend to stay within our limits financially. We do our best around safety issues, which are really important. Access is one area in which we must make improvements. Our overall waiting list for outpatients has reduced by 8% this year. The biggest reduction has been in the number waiting for longer than 12 months. That has decreased by 12%. This does not just apply to general paediatrics.

As I was saying, general paediatrics is the one specialty to be based at Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown in which we have made early investment into new ways of working. Staff there work virtually. There are virtual triage clinics and patients are moved to the next available slot. There is central referral so a patient is not referred to a particular doctor. Whoever has the shortest list gets the next patient. It is a much more efficient way of working. Clinics have now been set up at Connolly that do not need paper. If the patient has been in another hospital, his or her records are scanned and sent over. We do not have vans of paper going from place to place. This new way of working needed investment.

I can assure the committee that we have been successful in reducing our waiting lists through initiatives with the HSE. We are definitely starting to make an impact. The facility in Tallaght will be opening next year. To be quite honest, our biggest issue is the constraints of the facilities. We are trying to implement some strategic initiatives between now and 2023 so that we do not come into this hospital with long waiting lists. We want to start successfully and be able to implement the services that the children and families of Ireland deserve, as Deputy O'Connell says. Our staff deserve to be working in those facilities as well.