Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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110. To ask the Minister for Health if he has received a work plan from the NTPF on its waiting list initiative plans for 2023; and if he will indicate the key targets. [6760/23]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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My Department, the HSE and NTPF are engaging to develop the 2023 Waiting List Action Plan as the next stage of our multi-annual approach to reducing and reforming waiting lists.

The 2023 Plan builds on the foundational work delivered through the short-term Waiting List Action Plan from September - December 2021, and on improvements achieved through the 2022 Waiting List Action Plan.

As a result of interventions, total acute scheduled care waiting lists decreased in 2022 by 4.1%. This followed the reduction of 5.4% delivered through the initial short-term Plan.

The 2023 Plan allocates €363 million to address acute scheduled care waiting lists, including:

- €240 million in non-recurrent funding to the NTPF and HSE to continue providing additional public and private activity to maintain the momentum of further reducing waiting times and clear the waiting list backlogs exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

- €123 million in recurrent funding to the HSE to implement modernised care pathways and to sustainably close the capacity gaps in specialties and hospitals that create unacceptably long scheduled care waiting lists and times

The 2023 Waiting List Action Plan will be published shortly. The actions to be progressed this year and the projected targets are currently being finalised. However, it is important to note that NTPF activity is not dependent on the finalisation of this plan, and the NTPF continues to arrange appointments and procedures for patients, with significant numbers of authorisations already issued so far this year.