We should not have to legislate for standards. We should have them.

Six years ago the Government published a national health strategy which stated that by the end of 2003 no adult would have to wait for longer than six months for a procedure and no child would have to wait for longer than three months. A report by Fergal Bowers for RTE today says that at present 12,000 adults are waiting for longer than six months and 2,200 children are waiting for longer than three months for procedures.

At the beginning of September, the Health Service Executive, which was established to sort out the problems in the health service, introduced a total embargo on recruitment of all staff, including nurses, doctors and paramedics. Yesterday, the Health Service Executive extended that embargo for a further month. The Minister for Health and Children says this will not impact on patient care. Nevertheless, beds have been closed in Tullamore, Clonmel, Galway and Limerick and 40 staff have been let go in Sligo. One would expect this kind of month-to-month operation by the HSE in a country on the brink of bankruptcy, not in one as well off as this one, supposedly, is.

As the Health Service Executive attempts to claw back the €220 million it says it has overspent so far this year, it is clearly embarking, presumably with the approval of the Government, on a series of health cuts. Does the Taoiseach agree with the observation of his predecessor and mentor, the late Mr. Charles Haughey, that health cuts hurt the old, the sick and the handicapped?

Additional expenditure for the HSE this year amounts to €1.2 billion. Its allocation for this year is €15 billion, 25% higher than it was two years ago. I am sure the Deputy will accept that all my colleagues who administer Departments and agencies under their aegis must comply with the expenditure position. It is in addition to a €1.2 billion increase in funding that at the end of August, the HSE was over budget by €222 million. The HSE predicted it would over-spend by between €300 million and €350 million this year if it did not take corrective measures. I do not believe the Deputy is advocating an over-spend as it was a Government to which his colleagues were party that introduced the measures that stipulated that health boards should live within their budgets, and that was at a time when budgets were much less than they are today. Budgets have quadrupled in less than ten years. The HSE, like every other organisation, must adhere as close as possible to, hopefully within, the high allocation it receives through the budget.

On the other issue, I do not know whether the figures are official. I received a briefing on this and I am not clear from where those figures came. They do not appear to have come from the HSE or from the Department and for that reason, I cannot say whether they are right. On the general position, one million patients are being seen at a rate of 100,000 per month. The figures available today suggest there are 41,000 people on hospital waiting lists. The National Treatment Purchase Fund is doing a superb job. Persons on a waiting list for more than three months are asked to contact the NTPF.

As I mentioned in the House previously, some hospitals do not refer patients to the NTPF. I do not know if some of the hospitals mentioned in the report are among them. Total acute hospital discharges are up by 315,000 to 1.083 million, a 41% increase. Apart from the work undertaken by the National Treatment Purchase Fund, the HSE has, despite the many challenges and difficulties it is facing, dramatically increased the number of patients treated. Even if there are 41,000 people on the waiting list — I am not disputing this as I do not know whether that figure is correct — this is only a small percentage of the turnover.

I take this opportunity to state that anyone on a waiting list for more than 12 months and those who come within the three months' category should contact the National Treatment Purchase Fund.

The Taoiseach's recitation of figures will be poor consolation to those people who are waiting for an operation.

I wish to deal in particular with the HSE embargo. This type of staggering from in one month announcing an embargo on recruitment to the next month announcing its continuation is hardly the way to run the health service. It is also inconsistent. I do not know if the Taoiseach read the "Situations Vacant" column in last week's newspapers which contained an advertisement for a chief nursing officer, apparently to advise the Minister for Health and Children on nursing matters. This country hardly needs more advisers on health. What we need is more nurses and medical personnel in the system. It is a little incongruous that at a time when the Health Service Executive has a complete embargo on the recruitment of medical staff, the Minister remains unaffected and is free to advertise and hire more advisers in the health area.

Does the Taoiseach have any appreciation of the worry, concern and sometimes pain suffered by people on hospital waiting lists? In effect, the Taoiseach said that because one million patients go through the system, 41,000 is not a significant number? This shows a poor understanding of the conditions which people, particularly those dependent on the public health service, have to endure. What will the Government do, if anything, about the embargo imposed by the Health Service Executive? Does the Taoiseach believe it is satisfactory that our health service and hospitals are managed in such a way that they stagger from one month to the next? There was an embargo on recruitment of staff last month. That has been extended for another month and it may continue until Christmas. Surely, it is possible, given the large apparatus established under the Health Service Executive, to organise matters so that people can obtain the treatment they deserve without having to wait for six, 12 or more months?

The Deputy has asked a number of questions. On the advertisement by the Department of Health and Children for a nursing officer, the post is for a Civil Service nursing officer rather than an adviser. The current employee is leaving the position.

The same is happening in the health service.

Frontline staff.

Let us be clear on this point. The HSE is in receipt of €15 billion in Exchequer funding. Its funding has increased by more than 10% per annum in recent years. The allocation is based on the HSE's assessment of need, as is the case with every other agency. I am not sure if the Deputy is advocating that any sector, health, education or otherwise, should disregard its agreed annual allocation and incur a huge over-spend. That is not possible. The HSE is not advocating it should do this. It has, having examined its figures at the end of five months, noted it has to date spent almost €300 million of its €15 billion allocation and has taken corrective action. I understand that will affect only a few hundred of its 120,000 posts over the remainder of the year. The Deputy should put this in scale.

I do not want to get into the mathematics of this. However, the Deputy made a statement in respect of the number of people on hospital waiting lists. There has been a dramatic improvement in regard to hospital waiting lists. From the benchmark used by the HSE, the number of people on waiting lists for surgical admissions and in other fields has been halved in recent years. I accept people remain on hospital waiting lists and I agree no one should have to wait for more than 12 months for treatment — I have no difficulty agreeing with this — but the HSE has dramatically increased its throughput.

I accept that anyone waiting for a medical appointment suffers a certain amount of anxiety. However, recently published independent research carried out by the UCD School of Public Health and Population Science in respect of hospital waiting lists states that waiting times for hospital admissions for 91% of patients is less than three months, with 76% of in-patients stating they were admitted to hospital immediately upon being told they needed admission. A further 11% of people were admitted within one month and a further 4% were admitted within three months. I am not saying that is perfect but it is not bad. It is a significant improvement on the position at any time during my career in this House. That must be taken into account. The survey also examined what people had to say in terms of GP and inpatient services and referred to people's high level of satisfaction with hospital services. Some 83% of hospital inpatients felt they had been treated with dignity and respect, 83% of inpatients would recommend the service to another and two thirds of inpatients and almost 60% of outpatients rated their experience as excellent or very good.

If they can access the service.

Some 9% of inpatients and 13% of outpatients said their experience was poor. It will be a challenge to get it perfect. That is why we are providing €15 billion and 120,000 people to improve it. That is what the Government is committed to. The HSE, it is hoped, will be able to get back within its figures in the remainder of the year and move on with the large increase it will again receive in 2008.