One of the more optimistic sentences in the programme for Government reads, "We are committed to sustaining the progress made to date on waiting lists, and are committed to" further investment, etc. As the Taoiseach will be aware, the reality is that the waiting lists have gone in the opposite direction and are at an all-time record high. Quite appalling figures in a range of medical disciplines in almost every hospital throughout the country are going through the roof. There is a real crisis here. The programme for Government commits to "agree[ing] annual performance targets with each Hospital Group/Trust and CHO (Community Healthcare Organisation) on waiting times, linking to activity based funding.", and states, "We will establish a Performance Management Unit providing assistance to hospitals and service providers in reaching their targets." Given the abysmal results in terms of the worsening of the waiting times and the waiting lists, can the Taoiseach indicate what progress has been made on those programme for Government commitments?

It is worth noting that there are 3.2 million outpatient attendances at hospitals every year, that 100,000 patients have elective inpatient procedures and that 800,000 have planned day-care procedures. The number of patients who are waiting to be seen or treated, while unacceptably high, needs to be considered in the context of the total number of patients who are seen and treated.

The programme for Government commits to €50 million in 2017 for waiting list initiatives, with at least €15 million of this money allocated specifically to the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, which the Deputy has raised on a number of occasions. In direct response to those increases, the HSE has provided the Minister for Health with an action plan - to be implemented in the second half of this year - that is aimed at reducing the number of patients on waiting lists. Key actions of that plan include: clinical validation of patients waiting for inpatient or day-case procedures for over 15 months; focusing specifically on providing procedures for the 5% of patients on inpatient and day-case procedure waiting lists for over 18 months; and driving the process of improvement at hospital group and individual hospital level with the support of the special development unit.

Data has shown improvements in the overall endoscopy situation and in the waiting lists relating to and waiting times for endoscopy of 15 months. The Minister recently opened endoscopy units at the Beacon Hospital and Roscommon County Hospital. The Minister is conscious of the major role of the endoscopy procedure, both in advancing the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases and as a diagnostic and investigative tool significantly improving outcomes for patients. I will advise Deputy Martin in respect of the performance indicator system to which he refers.