Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will respond to the second part of the Deputy's question. In respect of both reports the Deputy and I await, which are very important reports that everybody is entitled to see, I am given to understand by CHI that they expect to receive them very shortly and in the next number of weeks. I feel as though I have said that before, however, and I really do expect to receive them. As I have said to the House previously, it is not directly within my control but I do expect to receive those very shortly.

On the broader question of addressing the lists and the times, as we discussed previously, the more referrals and more outpatient clinics there are, the more people will be added to the waiting list. That is okay. What is not okay is the duration of time they are waiting. To be clear, the Government has provided significant additional funding, which has resourced an uplift in staffing and provided additional infrastructure. If Deputies opposite were saying there was no theatre or there was no ring-fenced bed or there was no increased access to MRI or there was no additional surgeons or provision for it or if they were saying there was no investment enabling national and international outsourcing to three additional sites in Ireland, as well as two hospitals abroad in the UK and the US, I would accept all of those things but all of those things have been done and there is no excuse for not getting on with dealing with the cases that need to be dealt with.

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