James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The House will be aware that surges in demand occur around the new year and Easter. Such surges cause difficulties for everyone in the health services, especially patients. The key point is that health service staff are aware of these increases in pressures and, in conjunction with the special delivery unit, are working on measures to address them. This sustained focus and effort has seen a 3% reduction to date in 2014 compared to 2013. This, of course, is not of much comfort to patients who have been caught up in the situation and I acknowledge that. However, it should also be acknowledged that we have worked to address the ongoing problem of trolleys. We have made - and will continue to make - progress and we will continue to work to address this matter. Our commitment to addressing the situation is underlined by the targeted funding of €30 million available to better address areas of acute services which are likely to experience increased service demand. With this funding we will specifically seek to assist demand-led services such as emergency departments through the identification and utilisation of additional capacity and capability across the system.

When we came into government, there was no information available in respect of outpatient waiting times. Ours is the first Government to count the number of people on the relevant waiting list and in March of 2013 we indicated that over 384,000 people were waiting for outpatient appointments. Some of these individuals have been waiting for their appointments for more than four years. Some 103,000 of the 384,000 patients to whom I refer were waiting longer than a year for appointments. I have requested that no one should be waiting for longer than 12 months by the end of the year. I am pleased to say that despite the 10% reduction in staff, the 20% reduction in our budget, the 8% increase in population and the 20,000 additional people per annum who survive past the age of 65 - which is great but which increases the pressure on the system - in just nine months over 98,000 people have come off the list. That is an extraordinary achievement by the men and women who work in our health service and I take this opportunity to salute them.

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