David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the statements to be taken today on Irish Water and thank the Leader for arranging this debate.

Several weeks ago the Minister for Health attended the House for comprehensive statements on health care. I am sure the Leader will have seen yesterday’s newspaper reports on how waiting times in some hospitals have gone up. Surprise, surprise, in the south east, the waiting times are the highest in the State. At University Hospital Waterford, in the city from which the Leader and I come, people are waiting much longer than the promised 12 months. The Government’s policy is that no adult patient should wait more than 12 months for a first-time outpatient appointment. In the south east, however, 6,300 patients wait longer than 12 months, one third waiting longer than two years and some waiting up to four years. These long waiting lists include orthopaedics, ophthalmology, cardiology, general surgery, pain management, dermatology and many other treatments.

The reason for this is because University Hospital Waterford has been chronically underfunded, losing beds, doctors, consultants and other staff. This has not happened at this hospital alone but in others. These waiting time figures show the conservative targets set by the Government are simply not being met. An arrangement was put in place for orthopaedic patients in the south east to travel to Cappagh National Orthopaedic Hospital to have full treatment there. Most were not seen, however, at the hospital. For those seen and told they would have a full care package provided by Cappagh, it never happened in the end. They were all sent back to Waterford and put back on the waiting list, resulting in serious pressure on that department in Waterford hospital.

Will the Leader arrange for the Minister for Health to explain these waiting time figures, statewide, to the House and, specifically, why the south east is underperforming in this regard with University Hospital Waterford having the longest waiting times in the State? It seems to be the same old story for Waterford of lagging behind in resources. Will the Leader arrange that debate as soon as possible so we can have a constructive debate with the Minister on what resources are necessary to ensure people do not have to wait for hospital appointments? At the very least, patients in the south east deserve to be treated within 12 months. This is Government policy but it is not happening. It is the Government’s fault.