Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 July 2026
801. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Health the number of people currently on waiting lists for essential care in outpatient, inpatient and day case treatment in public hospitals; the estimated total cost of clearing these waiting lists; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51321/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraIt 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 Time Action Plan (WTAP) for 2026 on January 30th, as part of this Government’s ongoing commitment to improving access to hospital care and reducing waiting times for patients.
The multi-annual Action Plan approach was implemented in September 2021 to sustainably reduce and reform hospital waiting lists and waiting times. Significant progress has been made under this approach in reducing the length of time patients are waiting.
With the 2026 plan, we will continue to build upon the progress delivered to date under the multi annual action plan approach, moving 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.
National waiting list information by hospital, specialty, and time band is published monthly by the NTPF on its website: www.ntpf.ie/home/nwld.htm
The information is now being made available through an interactive visual tool which provides users with a much-improved way of accessing and analysing waiting list information.
The vast majority of scheduled care activity and hospital waiting list removals under the WTAP are delivered as part of core HSE capacity and activity, which is funded through the annual HSE allocation and is reflected in the National Service Plan.
The WTAP acts as a key enabler for each Region to improve planned care delivery. Under the reformed health service structures, HSE Regional Executive Officers have a key leadership role to drive and oversee the necessary productivity and performance improvements across each Region, including through improving efficiencies and reducing regional variation (e.g. via shared learning) and ultimately helping to increase access to care across the health service.
Work will also focus on supplementing core HSE capacity with the targeted utilisation of the surgical hubs and NTPF commissioning.
For 2026 the NTPF has a budget of €200 million with which it has committed to providing 143,000 episodes of patient care.
