Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The figures I have quoted today give the lie to the December 2013 outpatient figures, which claimed that no one was waiting more than one year at Waterford. On a national basis, the figures were much trumpeted by the then Minister, Deputy James Reilly, to show how well he was doing. To say the least, the figures from December 2013 are inconsistent with the figures for last month which I quoted in my initial remarks. The May 2015 figures indicate that 1,067 people have been waiting for an outpatient appointment since before May 2012, 452 of whom went on the list in May 2011 or earlier. Nevertheless, the published figures for December 2013 told us no one had been waiting more than one year in Waterford; a complete fabrication. The published figures for May 2014 indicated that just nine people had been waiting since before May 2012 with just two waiting since May 2011. How does the Minister explain a hospital waiting list in 2013 which said no one had been waiting since 2012 when the waiting list from 2014 indicated that nine had been waiting since the middle of 2012 and the recent figures show that more than 1,000 have been waiting since the middle of 2012, almost half of whom have been waiting since 2011? The figures do not add up. The Minister has given me an assurance in his reply, but this is not going to do anything in University Hospital Waterford where waiting lists are double the average of those in every other hospital in the country. There are over 3,000 people waiting. The Minister must give a reply and explain how the list will be brought down and into line with the rest of the country.

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