Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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197. To ask the Minister for Health the extent to which the national treatment purchase scheme can be utilised to alleviate waiting lists at various public hospitals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41170/17]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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198. To ask the Minister for Health the extent to which the private hospital sector can be utilised through the national treatment purchase fund to address the issue of long waiting lists for various procedures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41171/17]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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199. To ask the Minister for Health the extent to which the requests for specific medical and surgical procedures have dominated hospital waiting lists in the past two years; the procedures in place to address the issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41172/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 197 to 199, inclusive, together.

I acknowledge that waiting times are often unacceptably long and I am conscious of the burden that this places on patients and their families.

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 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 commenced and their implementation is ongoing. These Plans are utilising both the capacity within the private hospital system through outsourcing, whilst maximising existing capacity in our public hospital system through insourcing within hospital groups.