Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for her question. I sincerely regret, as we all do, that patients can experience a long waiting time for hospital appointments and treatment. I am very conscious of the burden this places on patients and their families. No situation is harder than when it is children who need hospital care.

It is recognised that prior to the Covid outbreak, many adults and children were already waiting too long for appointments and procedures. Unfortunately, as we know, the pandemic and, more recently, the cyberattack have had a significant impact on the provision of scheduled care services and a further backlog has arisen. Waiting lists for public hospital services remain unacceptably high. I do not believe they are defendable. The Government, with, we hope, the support of the Oireachtas, needs to do everything it can to tackle these waiting lists. It is one of the big focuses for the Government and for me as Minister for Health.

I cannot discuss a specific case on the floor of the House but I am very happy to continue to discuss it privately with the Deputy.

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