Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Kenny asked me three questions. Our figures differ a little. On his first question regarding patient waiting times, the HSE, which has responsibility for all 50 hospitals, continues to report significant improvements in the numbers of patients awaiting admission compared to the same period in previous years. The average number of patients awaiting admission during the December to January period was more than 50% lower than the equivalent period 12 months ago. I would have thought that was worthy of acknowledgement. Obviously, the lower it gets, the better, but we would like to acknowledge the efforts being made by the HSE. The average number awaiting admission in January up to last night was 111, whereas the average number for admission during the same period last year was 259. January's 57% reduction follows October at minus 34%, November at minus 32% and December at minus 53%. The HSE also hopes to reduce the over 24-hours category, which is now down to 4% of patients, to 12 hours over the next few months. I think that is important.

The second point Deputy Kenny made was that 40,000 operations were cancelled. I do not think any operations were cancelled, although some were postponed.

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