Vol. 517 No. 4
79 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Health and Children his views on whether long hospital waiting lists can be cut by adopting practices which have succeeded in other countries; if these practices have a relevance here; and the reason they have not been adopted to date. [9655/00]
The Deputy will be aware that my predecessor established a group to review the waiting list initiative, which reported to him in 1998. In considering the multi-faceted nature of the issue of waiting lists this group took full account of international experience when making their recommendations.
I am currently reviewing progress to date in the implementation of the wide-ranging measures of a short, medium and longer-term nature recommended in that report. In attaching a serious priority to tackling lengthy waiting lists and times, I believe that there are a number of practical steps that can be taken to accelerate progress, including achieving more flexible use of available capacity and closer collaborative arrangements between the different parts of the system. Taken together with longer-term measures associated with the investment of resources available under the national development plan, my aim is to achieve real progress in addressing the underlying causes of poor accessibility to certain services. I intend to address these issues and am confident of achieving real progress in the area of waiting lists and more importantly waiting times.
