Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In January 2015, my predecessor introduced maximum permissible waiting times for inpatient and day case treatment and outpatient appointments of 18 months by 30 June and 15 months by year end. As the House will know, additional funding of €51 million was approved in 2015 to maximise capacity across public and voluntary hospitals as well as outsourcing activity where capacity was not available to meet patient needs. HSE figures for the end of December 2015 show 95% achievement for inpatient and day case waiting lists and 93% achievement for outpatient waiting listsagainst the 15 month maximum wait time.

The HSE has advised that €28 million of the funding provided was utilised in 2015. Expenditure on this initiative has continued into 2016 in respect of those patients who had been referred for appointments in the latter part of 2015, as well as those who had commenced treatment which could not be completed before year end.

In addition to the almost 40,500 patients who have already been treated under the 2015 initiative, there are currently 700 patients who are in the process of completing their episodes of care. The HSE has provided assurances that all episodes of care are to be completed by 20 June and that all treatment providers have been apprised of this deadline. Final expenditure on this initiative will be available after the end of this month, once all episodes of care have been delivered.

The outcomes of this initiative will inform the implementation of the programme for partnership Government commitment to provide €50 million per year to reduce waiting lists, including a sum of €15 million for the National Treatment Purchase Fund. I will be considering in the context of budget 2017 how best to utilise that €50 million, inclusive of the €15 million, to tackle waiting lists. I will await the end of this period of care at the end of the month in terms of how to best evaluate that.

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