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

I will just be two minutes more, if that is okay. For the outpatient waiting list, the number of people waiting over 15 months fell by 54%. Of course we cannot compare outpatient waiting times with those of the last Government, as those involved chose not to count or include them in official figures, even though they account for three quarters of all those waiting.

Concerted efforts have been made to reduce the scoliosis waiting list as well. At the end of December, no active patients were waiting 15 months or more for spinal surgery at Crumlin hospital. In total 50% more operations were carried out in 2015 versus 2014 with the assistance of hospitals in Cappagh, Temple Street, Blackrock and London. New theatre capacity will be provided in Crumlin as well.

Health will never be a good news story. In a Department and a system with over 104,000 staff there will always be groups that have a grievance, often a legitimate one. With over 1,000 hospitals, primary care centres, health centres and community nursing units, there will always be a number in difficulty. With 6 million individual hospital attendances per year, there will always be individual cases that shame and embarrass us. Even 0.1% of 6 million amounts to 6,000 cases. Sadly, this means many of the improvements go unacknowledged or unrecognised, but progress is being made. In Ireland a patient is more likely to survive cancer than ever before. A patient is less likely to have a heart attack, but, if he does, he is more likely than ever to be at home within a few days. If a person has a stroke, he is more likely than ever to receive thrombolysis treatment and survive or avoid disability. If a patient has HIV, he will be treated and live a full and long life. If a patient has hepatitis C, he will probably be cured.

Nonetheless, we all agree the patients are still waiting too long and staff have to work in difficult conditions. It is unrealistic to believe that the situation can be transformed in weeks or months. Yet, it is not intractable and health is not a black hole. With sustained effort, additional resources clinical leadership and management focus we can make improvements. It is important to remember that high quality care is provided to many patients in our emergency departments throughout the country. The vast majority of patients who present at emergency departments, some 83%, receive timely care and are either discharged or admitted within nine hours. I can assure the House of my ongoing commitment and interest in this matter and that of the Government. My apologies for going over time.

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