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

There is a big difference between somebody waiting a few weeks for an appointment or investigation and somebody who is waiting several months. It has been the case for a very long time, including when the Deputy’s party leader as Minister for Health promised to abolish waiting lists in two years and broke that promise, but we can both accept that in Ireland there have been far too many people waiting far too long for appointments, diagnostics and treatments.

There is a roadmap. I have outlined it several times. It has three elements, first, transparency, which involves online waiting lists and strict adherence to chronological order which is not happening in some hospitals where people are going up and down lists although they are not sicker than others. The second element is efficiency, more day surgery, 20,000 more cases this year, more day of surgery admissions, an improved ratio of new patients to returns, which is really important, and reduced numbers of non-attenders, which are still very high and above international averages. There are specific initiatives and there is additional funding in place for scoliosis – we are trying to get a plan in place to make that happen but the resources are there for additional cases – ophthamology and some other areas that are being prioritised such as general practitioner, GP, access to ultrasound and a minor surgery list for GPs. There is a roadmap.

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