Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That is not actually the case; the former Minister, Senator James Reilly, changed the policy. He got rid of the treatment purchase fund, which was a singular, dedicated and focused approach to dealing with waiting times. He blew it and got it terribly wrong. Another Minister, Deputy Varadkar, came after him and demonstrated no urgency at all on this. There are 5,000 patients waiting in Beaumont, meaning the numbers are up 57% on January this year. The Government must have a real check on reality and not quote the kind of figures I mentioned. The former Minister, Senator James Reilly, created a new target of 12 months - plucked from thin air - and up to then the target was six months for adults and three months for children. The former Minister, Deputy Varadkar, put it at 15 months. The Government could then judge against new targets that it created.

This is an urgent issue for the number of people who are waiting for procedures. In Crumlin's children's hospital, 2,000 children have been waiting for more than a year for an outpatient appointment. That is not good enough. We should immediately tackle that with a sense of urgency followed by real money now and not later in the year. We must get to the bottom of it. The numbers is Waterford are up 183% since January.

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