Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would tell them that it is utterly unacceptable. That is the reason I believe the House is united in its view, and it is my view, that every cent we target on waiting lists must be focused on the longest waiters. Thankfully we are now spending specific money on waiting lists, be it the €20 million for the NTPF in 2017, the further €55 million earmarked for 2018 or the €11 million on the HSE waiting list action plan. These are statistics but they represent real money. There will always be waiting lists in every health service. The issue is when somebody is waiting for an unacceptably long period. The reason I was quoting statistics was that while the question referred to people waiting over 18 months I believed there was an onus on me to point out that 92% of people on the list in Tallaght are waiting less than 18 months. The 8% is 362 patients, to make that real. That is a long wait for people. The HSE has advised me that the majority of those patients are in the orthopaedic or ear, nose and throat, ENT, areas. The hospital is working with the HSE to ensure that the majority of these patients will have their procedures scheduled or completed before the year ends, so that number should drop significantly in Tallaght. The hospital is also in the process of recruiting additional orthopaedic and ENT consultants. These are tangible benefits that should help the Deputy's constituents who are waiting a long time.

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