Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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1132. To ask the Minister for Health the progress which has been made on reducing surgical and outpatient waiting lists over the past six months; and the specific target for the next quarter. [63756/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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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 that this places on patients and their families.

I published the Waiting List Action Plan (WLAP) for 2025 in February, representing this Government’s continued commitment to reducing waiting times for patients and improving access to hospital care. This year's plan sets out four overarching targets focused on reducing waiting times.

With the multi annual action plan approach, we are progressing towards the ultimate vision of a public healthcare service in which everyone has timely access to high-quality scheduled care, where and when they need it.

Important progress has been made under the WLAP approach, implemented in late 2021, in reducing the length of time patients are waiting. For example, from September 2021 to October 2025 there has been a c. 11% reduction in the number of people on the waiting list who are waiting longer than the 10- and 12- week Sláintecare targets. This equates to approximately 66,000 less people breaching these targets. Over the same time period, there was also a c. 55% reduction in the number of long waiters (i.e. those patients waiting over 12 months), equating to over 155,000 less patients waiting over 12 months.

My Department is engaging with the HSE and National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) to develop the action plan for 2026, building on the progress delivered to date, renewing the focus on improving waiting times for patients, and considering the learnings from the challenges that arose in 2025.