John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and I acknowledge the efforts that he and the hospitals are going to in respect of the various initiatives announced. The challenge is for the Minister to set out to us in a clear manner how those goals will be achieved.

Although more people are accessing the services, the result is that in one 12-month period, more than 3,000 children are waiting 18 months. This has a devastating impact on a young person and the time waiting represents a significant proportion of the life of these young people. From that point of view it is significant.

The Minister has announced initiatives today. However, I wish to remind him that across all three hospitals in the 18-month period, the waiting lists for children have gone up significantly, not by minor amounts but significant amounts. I acknowledge the efforts the Minister is making but I urge him to publish a strategy or work programme that will be developed over a 12-month period to arrest the rate of increase and then show a decline in the timeframe indicated by him.

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