Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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1008. To ask the Minister for Health the number of children who are on the waiting list for two years of more in all children's hospitals waiting for a diagnosis and treatment for juvenile arthritis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16644/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Reducing waiting times for hospital procedures is a key priority of this Government. On 12 April 2018 the Minister launched the Inpatient/Day Case Action Plan 2018. This plan was compiled by the Department of Health, the Health Service Executive, and the National Treatment Purchase Fund.

As part of the plan the HSE will deliver 1.14 million hospital operations or procedures and the NTPF will deliver 20,000 Inpatient Day Case treatments. Under the plan there will be a significant reduction in the overall number of people waiting for a procedure. The target is that the waiting list numbers will fall to 70,000 by the end of the year, from a peak of 86,100 in July 2017.

In relation to your particular query, as this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly.