Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is not a particular problem in Cappagh hospital. It is a very well run and well managed hospital. Ironically, in some ways the hospital demonstrates the consequences of coming in on budget. The hospital does not have an accident and emergency department and therefore, no emergency admissions and as a result the hospital can plan its activities precisely every year. The hospital has come in on budget every year and it has almost no agency staff. However, the consequence is that the hospital has had to cut back activity very considerably and this is the cause of the problem highlighted by the Deputy.

In the HSE service plan published earlier today provision is made for an increase in the number of day cases and day surgery by 20,000 next year. It is intended within the budget of €4 billion for hospitals to provide an increase in the budget for Cappagh hospital next year so it can begin to ramp up activity. It is hoped this will show results next year in terms of people like the Deputy's constituent and many of mine experiencing shorter waiting lists. The difficulty we have is that as our population ages, the demand for orthopaedic surgery keeps increasing and the budget is not increasing adequately to meet that demand. The situation will be alleviated next year when there will be more money for Cappagh hospital to carry out these operations, but not enough unfortunately.

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