Seven years ago, Fine Gael promised universal access to health services for all and the end of long waiting times and lists. Seven years on, we have record levels of waiting times and waiting lists. Some 718,000 people, an extraordinary number, are on hospital waiting lists as of May of this year. Some 512,000 of these are on an outpatient waiting list, a record high which means that many will wait for years for an operation or procedure. For example, 66,768 people are waiting for an ear, nose and throat, ENT, consultant, with nearly 30,000 of those waiting more than a year and 17,000 waiting more than 18 months for access to ENT services. Some 62,000 people are on outpatient waiting list to see an orthopaedic consultant. Some 20,000 have been waiting more than a year and 11,000 more than 18 months. Some 41,000 are on the ophthalmology list, 41,000 for dermatology, and 30,000 are on a waiting list to see a gynaecology consultant. Some 20,000 are on a cardiology list, 20,000 are on a neurology list, and so on. The 18 month waiting list is getting longer despite the fact that the now Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar, brought that in. He widened the goalposts in a cynical move at the time. Even the target to eradicate that has been missed.

Children are hardest hit, waiting far too long for far too many operations, outpatient appointments, and access to mental healthcare. Child and adolescent waiting lists are unacceptable, and speech and language, occupational therapy and physiotherapy all have scandalous waiting lists. Some 50,000 children are waiting for an outpatient consultation and appointment. Some 10,000 children have been waiting more than 18 months to see a consultant. In excess of 4,500 children are waiting for an assessment of need under the Disability Act. Some 2,691 are on child and adolescent mental health waiting lists, with close to 400 waiting more than a year. That is appalling. An extraordinary figure of 6,000 have been waiting for a primary care psychological appointment. The elderly are no better, with 6,500 waiting for home care and help access.

In May 2017, the Sláintecare programme was launched with great fanfare. An executive director was to be appointed, yet 14 months on, nothing has happened with regard to that. No executive director has been appointed. Given those lamentable figures and appalling waiting times for people, why is there inaction and a delay in appointing an executive director to implement the Sláintecare programme? Why has it taken 14 months after the launch of the programme by the Oireachtas and the committee for the Government to do anything about its implementation?

With regard to the Deputy's last question, I am told that an executive director is about to be appointed after a long recruitment process. This is a new departure. It has taken time to get it right. We are focused on trying to get the right person and putting the right structures around that person to make sure that an executive director can deliver on the potential and ambition of the Sláintecare report.

Waiting times are too long.

That is why reducing waiting times for patients for hospital operations and procedures continues to be a key priority for the Government. A total of €50 million was provided to the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, in 2018 to secure treatments for patients. On 12 April, the Minister for Health published a joint action plan between the HSE and the NTPF to reduce the number of patients waiting for treatment. Under the action plan, the number of patients waiting longer than nine months will fall by 10,000. The NTPF commits to offer treatment to all suitable clinical patients waiting more than nine months for treatment in a number of high-volume specialties, including cataract, hip and knee replacements, tonsils and scopes. The overall number of patients waiting for hospital operations and procedures is targeted to fall below 70,000 by the end of the year. Under the action plan the NTPF will work with both public and private hospitals to access treatment for those patients.

The May waiting list figures show that 78,500 patients were waiting for an inpatient or day case procedure, which is down marginally by 800 on the previous year, but down by almost 7,200 when comparing the year-on-year figures. The number of patients waiting longer than nine months for an inpatient or day procedure is now down 5,800 in comparison with May 2017. I am not saying that makes it acceptable - it is far from it - but what I am saying is that we are making some progress. Tackling the situation will require a combination of more staff, which is happening, more hospital beds, which is happening, and more reform consistent with the Sláintecare report, which is supported by all parties in this House. Very soon we will have a director to take charge of Sláintecare and over time we will see the continued commitment of the Government to bring down waiting lists across the multiple sectors the Deputy raised.

I must point out that it was seven years ago that the Government promised universal access to services, and we are now in a far worse position. It was the Government that got rid of the National Treatment Purchase Fund in 2012. That is directly contributing to an escalation in waiting times and waiting lists. It has only been reinstated because of the confidence and supply agreement and because of Fianna Fáil insisting that the National Treatment Purchase Fund would be reintroduced. There was huge resistance to that at the time. That is the only thing the Government can latch on to now to say it is beginning to have an impact, but only on the inpatient waiting list.

All of my figures relate to the outpatient waiting list in terms of gynaecology, ENT, orthopaedics and ophthalmology, and in particular children waiting more than 18 months to see a consultant. There is no impact on the outpatient waiting list whatsoever. The marginal improvement on the inpatient waiting list is due to the extra €50 million allocated to the National Treatment Purchase Fund, at our insistence, in the previous budget. Barring that, the fact is that 14 months on, there is no progress with Sláintecare. The Tánaiste should not expect us to believe that it is because we took our time to get somebody. That speaks to a lack of urgency around health and health services and about changing the figures for the elderly, children and people in general, so that elderly people do not have to travel to the North for a cataract operation or come to our offices seeking to work out how to get there. It is not acceptable in any shape or form. There has been a lethargy to the extent that one almost gets the sense that Fine Gael has written off the health services-----

I am sorry, but the time is up.

-----such is the lack of urgency and attention to the issues.

I do find it a bit much when Deputy Martin tries to take credit for some of the things that are offering marginal improvements at the moment but takes no responsibility for his own actions and those of his party when in government. Fianna Fáil was the party that took beds out of the system when there was loads of money to spend.

That was ten years ago.

The Government is now trying to put more than 200 beds back into the system. We need to be realistic about the challenge we all face. We have for the first time a collective agreement on how to take forward health policy. This Government had the maturity to talk to Opposition parties to ensure that regardless of whoever is in government in the years ahead-----

We saw the results in the previous election.

-----we would have some consistency of health policy, unlike in Deputy Martin's time in government.

The Government is not taking it forward.

It is 14 months since the programme was launched and there is still no director.

The Tánaiste without interruption.

In its time in government, Fianna Fáil tried to bring in radical changes that did not work.

What about the smoking ban?

We now have consistency of approach------

The standard of cardiac and cancer care is rubbish. The Government has nothing to stand over.

-----such that we know where we are going. We are appointing a director to deliver Sláintecare. We are spending more on healthcare than ever before and putting beds back into the system that Fianna Fáil should never have taken out.

There is now a far bigger population. The Tánaiste has failed to recognise the demographics, which is unsurprising.