David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister recently stated, presumably in response to a journalist, that if there were 2 million people on waiting lists, Sinn Féin would not be happy, which is obviously a political charge. At this point, 1.3 million people are on hospital waiting lists. That does not make me happy; in fact, it makes me angry and frustrated because, like him, I deal with patients every day who have concerns about how long they have been awaiting access to care. Approximately 900,000 people are on acute hospital waiting lists and a further 500,000 are awaiting a diagnostic scan or are on a community waiting list. What more can the Minister and the Government do to tackle the very long waiting lists?

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