Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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481. To ask the Minister for Health the number of outpatients in Longford and Westmeath. [45800/24]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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It is acknowledged that many patients are still waiting too long for hospital appointments and treatments. I am conscious of the burden this places on patients and their families.

To address the issue, I adopted a multi-annual approach through a series of Waiting List Action Plans. Commencing in late 2021, these plans encompass short-term actions to increase capacity and activity in the short and immediate term, and longer-term reform measures to sustainably reduce both hospital waiting lists and waiting times.

The 2024 Plan with a budget of €360 million, builds on the work of previous plans which have achieved significant progress in overall waiting list reduction and in addressing long waiting times, against a backdrop of significantly increased demand for scheduled care services.

Funding of €420m is being allocated to the Waiting List Action Plan for 2025. This represents an almost 17% increase (€60m) above the significant funding allocated for the Action Plan this year.

The investment clearly demonstrates the Government’s ongoing commitment to sustainably reducing and reforming hospital waiting lists and waiting times. With this significant funding for 2025, we will continue to progress towards a having a public healthcare service in which everyone has timely and transparent access to high-quality scheduled care, where and when they need it.

In relation to the particular query raised, the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) has advised my Department that at the end of September there were 5,607 patients with an area of residence in County Longford and 12,416 with an area of residence in County Westmeath.