Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To the end of July more than 360,000 people were on outpatient waiting lists, an increase of almost 60,000 on the figure for last year. It is obvious, therefore, that something either is or is not happening, as the case may be. There comes a point where it is no longer possible to force that level of throughput through hospitals because they simply do not have the ability to deal with it as a result of a lack of theatre capacity, consultants and front-line staff. There is also an issue with regard to an inability to transfer people from acute hospitals to step-down facilities. The latter is because the Government, the Department and the HSE have simply not provided funding for such facilities in recent years. At any given time there can be between 600 and 700 people in our hospitals who should not be there and who should instead be being looked after in community settings - with access to home-care packages - or in step-down facilities. It is one thing to make statements but there is also a need to put sufficient funding in place in order to ensure that our hospitals have the necessary capacity.

Does the Minister agree that the special delivery unit appears to have run out of steam and that it also seems to be incapable of addressing outpatient and day-case waiting lists? Will he take action to ensure that adequate funding is put in place, primarily in respect of step-down facilities, in order that people will be removed from acute hospital settings when they no longer need to be there?

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