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

I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue, which is very close to my heart. I took an interest in it, both as a doctor and as Minister for Health. We can all accept that far too many people in Ireland are waiting far too long for treatment. People are well aware that about 600,000 people are on one form of waiting list or another. More than half of those people will be seen in less than six months and about a third of people are seen in less than three months. However, many people are still waiting more than three months and more than six months, which is not something we want to continue or to stand over.

The waiting lists for surgery for inpatient and day-case treatment are starting to fall. The most recent figures from August show a fall of 2,000 in the number of people waiting for surgery - waiting for procedures or operations. That is due in part to additional investment in the health service with a record budget this year and additional funds provided to the National Treatment Purchase Fund.

Dealing with scoliosis in particular, as the Deputy knows, the Government has a scoliosis action plan in place. When I was Minister for Health I met the surgeons who perform these operations and met representatives of some of the interest groups. One of their big requests was that a new theatre be provided in Crumlin hospital. That cost about €2 million or €3 million. That new theatre is now in place and open. Quite a number of cases are now being outsourced to other hospitals including, for example, to Blackrock and Stanmore in London. The number of operations has increased. It is a good sign that more people are being treated and having their surgery, but people are still waiting a very long time.

The four-month target was set by the director general of the Health Service Executive, which is funded to meet that target. I will certainly be calling on the HSE to deliver on that target. I discussed it with the Minister for Health in the past couple of days and it is intended to have a treatment plan and a treatment offer for every child who is waiting for scoliosis surgery. It may not be possible to perform all operations in Crumlin by the surgeon of choice, but certainly people will be given the offer of treatment abroad if they are waiting more than four to six months on the surgical waiting list for that. Of course we understand that some parents will - for totally legitimate reasons - prefer to have the treatment in their own country rather than going abroad, but the treatment abroad option will be there.

See this speech in context