Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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356. To ask the Minister for Health further to the allocation of an extra €15 million to the National Treatment Purchase Fund in 2017, the number of persons in each hospital on day case and inpatient lists who have been offered treatment by the fund to date in 2017; and the number of persons in each hospital who have had treatment as a result of such an offer. [22736/17]

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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357. To ask the Minister for Health the amount of the extra €15 million allocated to the National Treatment Purchase Fund in 2017 that has been spent; and the dates and locations that it was spent. [22737/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 356 and 357 together.

Reducing waiting times for the longest waiting patients is one of this Government's key priorities. Consequently, Budget 2017 allocated €20 million to the NTPF, rising to €55 million in 2018.

In December 2016, I granted approval to the NTPF for the first tranche of funding in the region of €5m for a waiting list initiative with the aim of ensuring that in excess of 2000 patients waiting more than 18 months for a daycase procedure will have received an appointment for their procedure by 30 June 2017.

The NTPF has advised that the Initiative has commenced and patients are currently receiving their appointments. Specifically, over 350 patients awaiting cataract procedures who would have been waiting for longer than 18 months by the end of June have been identified as appropriate to test the first clinical pathway for this outsourcing initiative.

It may not be possible to make specific information on costs in relation to individual private hospitals available due to its commercial sensitivity, however the NTPF will be required to provide to the Department of Health, financial reports regarding the waiting list initiatives.

In order to reduce the numbers of long-waiting patients, I asked the HSE to develop Waiting List Action Plans for 2017 in the areas of Inpatient/Daycase, Scoliosis and Outpatient Services. These plans have now been finalised and will be communicated shortly.