Patrick Nulty (Dublin West, Independent)
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238. To ask the Minister for Health the action he is taking to curb escalating hospital waiting lists in 2013 especially the number of patients waiting over six months for elective procedures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34047/13]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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In July 2011 I established the Special Delivery Unit as set out in the Programme for Government with the aim of unblocking access to acute hospital services by improving the flow of patients through the system. A maximum wait time of 12 months for adults awaiting an inpatient or daycase procedure was set in 2011. The maximum wait time target was reduced to nine months in 2012 and this year the target maximum wait time for adults is eight months, as set out in the HSE Service Plan. For children awaiting an inpatient or daycase procedure the maximum waiting time target is 20 weeks and for those awaiting a routine GI endoscopy, it is 13 weeks. There is no six-month target in place.

Figures for inpatient and daycase waiting times are published on www.ntpf.ie. The published data shows a rise in inpatient and daycase waiting times since the end of last year. This follows the very significant achievements in reducing wait times at the end of 2012 and reflects the severe pressures on Emergency Departments in the early months of this year, which impacted on waiting times. In working towards the 2013 maximum wait times, the SDU together with the NTPF is working closely with hospitals to analyse performance, to agree mitigation plans and provide extra support as necessary and to optimise the use of hospital capacity.