Frank O'Rourke (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the Minister of State is filling in for the Minister. I met the Minister in June or July of this year and raised this issue, among others. It is disappointing that we are not able to have a full debate on it here. It is not a matter of having the post mortem but agreeing on a strategy to deliver and make progress. With respect, the answer given covered the proposals dealing with outpatients, surgeries and procedures in general but it was not specific to adult spinal surgery or orthopaedics, which represent a massive issue. I am focusing on this issue because it is so urgent and important.

What is required is a €4 million investment. When I spoke with the senior surgeon, I noted this was costed. What the hospital is seeking is a €4 million investment in providing the theatres, the necessary facilities and infrastructure in Tallaght hospital to allow it deal properly, strategically and in an orderly manner with reducing the waiting lists once and for all. That is what I sought 12 months ago and in May and July. That is what I am seeking today. We need a commitment on that because the lack of funding is the problem.

The Minister of State talked about the NTPF. We acknowledge that because putting funding into it in 2017 and increased funding 2018 was part of the confidence and supply agreement. The reality is that, based on how it is being managed or channelled, it is having zero impact on the waiting lists. Figures show that people on the routine list must wait 38 months, yet the aspiration is three to six months. An urgent case - it could be a family member or someone who comes to the Minister of State's own constituency office - must wait 23 months although the target is from one to two months. This is the crux of the matter. It needs to be addressed and we need to bring forward proposals to deliver solutions and results so the people who are suffering can receive the treatment they need and get their lives back on track and so they do not have to wait 36 or 38 months for routine surgeries to make them mobile again and let them have some quality of life.

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