Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Fine Gael's record on waiting lists for the hospital service, having been in government since 2011, is shocking. If we are to see any solution to this waiting list crisis, the Taoiseach and the Government must accept that there is a crisis. In July 2014, there were 360,000 on the outpatient waiting list. In May 2018, that had risen to 511,904, an increase of 151,151.

It is truly shocking that more than half a million people are now stuck on outpatient waiting lists. The latest waiting list figures for May 2018 show that we are further away than ever from reaching the targets set by the Taoiseach three years ago. The half a million people on the outpatient waiting list is another new record. However, the waiting times being endured within that list are truly shocking. Approximately 80,000 people who need to see a specialist have been waiting for more than 18 months, another all-time high. These figures are not in dispute; they are cold facts. However, behind those facts are patients of every age waiting to be seen by a specialist. Families with children waiting for much needed care are at their wits' end with worry. The quality of life of older people is being badly affected while they wait months for a simple procedure and during that time, the HSE is involved in controversy after controversy.

The situation has reached such a level that people are losing faith in the HSE's ability to solve the waiting list crisis. That is where political accountability comes in. The Taoiseach seems to believe he can float through these scandals offering soft intellectual observations without taking any real responsibility. If the waiting list crisis is to be resolved, the Taoiseach must cancel the promotional tour he has embarked on and get back to reality. Being Taoiseach is not some sort of reality TV show where he plays the hero. It is about working hard for the people of this country and it is about time he understood that.

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