Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I understand that the Tánaiste is not the Minister for Health and I do not expect him to have a specific answer to my question. The point I am trying to make is that targets will not be met unless there is legislation to underpin them. Targets will not be reached voluntarily. The Government must provide an incentive so that targets will be met. Of course, Sláintecare cannot be delivered overnight but the question is whether the Government is willing to introduce legislation that will demand that targets are met. Outpatient numbers are increasing and the demand for elective care is also increasing. Soon the only elective care that will be delivered in our acute hospitals will be for trauma, emergencies or cancer. Elective care is slowly being pushed off our hospital waiting lists. Soon we will have a winter initiative under which elective care will be cancelled for between six weeks and two months, which will only add to the lengthening lists. When a patient moves from an outpatient list, having eventually been seen, to the inpatient list, he or she moves to the bottom rung of that list. Legislation must be introduced to impose targets and to demand, by way of statute, that care is delivered in a timely fashion. When will that legislation be introduced?

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