Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister's response is very welcome. There are long waiting lists of 12 months or more in many outpatient departments: urology, orthopaedics, paediatrics, plastic surgery, respiratory, dermatology and gynaecology. This comes up daily in my clinic as people try to get their first appointment. People are very frustrated. If the Minister could link with, and make a priority of, the Saolta group, we could put pressure on to ensure this is not put on the long finger but is delivered as quickly as possible. That would bring great comfort to many in the west. The hospital is a centre of excellence. It is a level four hospital and covers Donegal, Roscommon and Mayo as well as Galway. It is vital that the NTPF considers the outpatients department as quickly as possible.

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