Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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90. To ask the Minister for Health his views on the recent statistics from Health Consumer Powerhouse, which found Ireland to have the longest emergency department waiting times in Europe and placed Ireland second worst for access to specialists; the measures he is taking or planning to address these issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3922/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The European Health Consumer Index (EHCI) report which was published on 26 January 2016, states that, according to its research, Ireland ranks 21 of 35 countries, up one place from the previous year. The report shows that Ireland is performing well compared with other countries in patient access to prevention services such as infant and HPV vaccinations and smoking cessation programmes and on patient outcomes such as cancer survival, reducing deaths from strokes and cardiovascular diseases and infant mortality.

With regard to ED waiting times, the report excludes any published official waiting list data in the analysis and this is acknowledged by the authors. The authors base their conclusions only on results from their commissioned surveys of patient organisations.

National waiting list data and ED waiting time data are reported directly by hospitals to the HSE, and published as a matter of public record in the monthly suite of HSE Performance Assurance Reports. In addition to regular analysis and examination by the Business Intelligence Unit of the HSE, the robust management of waiting lists is addressed by the Quality Assurance and Audit function of the NTPF.

Over the last number of months, a range of initiatives have been implemented to address ED overcrowding and waiting times. Work on these initiatives will continue to be a priority for the rest of 2016. Significant additional resources, €117m, additional beds and staffing have been put in place to address the problem.

It is recognised that patient access to Irish health care is an area that requires our continued focus and improvement. Nevertheless, when patients gain access to healthcare in Ireland it matches and in many cases exceeds international standards.