Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his questions. At the outset, we should acknowledge that there are some very good things about our health service. Life expectancy continues to rise in Ireland. It is at 83 now and that is, in part, because of the improvements that have been made to our health service in recent years. Stroke survival rates are improving all the time. When I was working as a doctor, a stroke unit was very rare and there is now one in nearly every hospital. Cancer survival rates are improving every year and there has also been an improvement in the treatment for heart attacks. Many of the patient outcomes in Ireland are as good as, if not better than, our European peers and are better than those in the National Health Service, NHS, which is often used as an example that we should follow. We have also seen great improvements in chronic disease management. People with diabetes, for example, are managed at community level by their GPs in a way that was unthinkable only ten years ago. There is some evidence that waiting lists, having risen dramatically in part as a consequence of Covid and the cyberattack, are now starting to level off and, if anything, are perhaps going to fall a little. The word for that may not be "encouraging" because waiting lists should not be as long as they are, but levelling off is perhaps the first step before improvement.

I acknowledge that we face real barriers to access. Most people would acknowledge that when a patient gets into the health service, the treatment, generally speaking, is very good. That is what most people say when they are asked in patient experience surveys. However, we have a real problem with access. People are waiting far too long to see a consultant or to get an operation or investigation that they need. People are also experiencing unacceptable conditions in most of our emergency departments, including in UHL, which Deputy McNamara has mentioned many times.

We are pouring resources into the health service as the Deputy himself noted. In the past two years alone we have added over 1,000 beds to the system, 930 in the acute hospitals and 340 in the community. There are 15,000 extra staff now compared with two years ago including 4,500 extra nurses and midwives. There is a narrative to the contrary but the facts speak otherwise. We have 4,500 more nurses and midwives working in our health services than we had two years ago and 1,400 more doctors and dentists than was the case two years ago and more than 2,000 additional health and social care professionals. That is happening against a backdrop of a rising population and an aging population with much more complex needs. That is the situation with which we are dealing. We will continue to strive to make further improvements in the years ahead and turn the tide on waiting lists which I think is achievable.

See this speech in context