Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On the outpatient waiting lists, I understand that there are more than 100,000 people waiting over 18 months for an outpatient appointment. When the Taoiseach was the Minister for Health he had a target for this figure to be zero by June 2015. The figure has, however, gone up 800% since the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, came into office in 2016. Will the Taoiseach indicate why this is and what the Government's plans are to tackle this figure?

The National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, has been somewhat effective in reducing the inpatient waiting lists, although not all the way and it has been slow to get off the ground. It is in the confidence and supply arrangement and in the last budget we asked for an increase to go to the NTPF to allocate funding to patients. Perhaps the Taoiseach will undertake to get for me - officially - the timeline for receipt of the fair deal scheme once an applicant is approved. I am aware of a case that is taking six weeks and other Deputies have told me this is similar to their own experiences from applicants. I would appreciate someone clarifying that timeline for us. Why is there such a delay? That timeline is getting longer for recipients who have been approved under the fair deal.

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