Waiting lists are now the system, not the exception – Bacik

Labour Party Leader Ivana Bacik TD has said that long waits for basic healthcare have become the norm in Ireland, as new figures show almost 900,000 people waiting for outpatient care or an operation. Speaking during Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil today, Deputy Bacik challenged the Taoiseach on the failure of the Government’s 2025 Waiting List Action Plan and called for urgent action to expand hospital capacity, reduce unsafe overcrowding and end the normalisation of missed targets in the health system.

Deputy Bacik said that waiting lists are no longer a temporary backlog but are now embedded in how the health service operates, with patients routinely left waiting months and years for care that should be timely and accessible.

 

Deputy Bacik said:

“Families are struggling every day with the consequences of excessive waiting times. Older people are left on trolleys, children are waiting months or years for assessments, and patients with serious conditions are receiving letters instead of care. As waits get longer, people get sicker, emergency departments become more overcrowded, and healthcare workers are pushed to breaking point.

 

“This Government’s failure to deal with waiting lists is now undeniable. The latest figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund show that almost 900,000 people are waiting for outpatient care or an operation. The number waiting longer than six months has increased by 12 per cent in a single year, and nearly one in six adults on outpatient lists have been waiting more than a year. For children, more than 17 per cent are waiting over 12 months, and we have learned this week that some children with mental health or developmental needs have been left waiting up to 11 years for a psychological assessment.

 

“The Taoiseach’s response in the Dáil today was deeply disappointing. Rather than confronting the reality shown in his own figures, he diverted to past announcements on free GP care and surgical hubs, even harked back to Covid. The figures do not lie. The Government’s own Waiting List Action Plan for 2025 set a modest target that 90 per cent of outpatients would be seen within a year. Even that low bar was missed.

 

“In just one year, inpatient waiting lists have risen by 18 per cent. Endoscopy waiting lists have jumped by a third. The number waiting for a first outpatient appointment has increased by 10 per cent, and those waiting more than 18 months for inpatient care have risen by over 25 per cent. This is a failure of delivery by the HSE, the Department of Health and ultimately this Government.

 

“The problem is not funding but urgency and accountability. This year’s HSE National Service Plan provides for just 134 additional hospital beds, down from the 297 promised last year, a target the Government itself failed to meet. Two-thirds of hospitals are operating at unsafe occupancy levels, with real consequences for patients and staff. Overcrowding, cancelled procedures and chronic delays are the predictable result of inadequate capacity.

 

“Labour is calling for immediate and sustained action to expand hospital bed capacity, properly staff our health service and deliver waiting list targets that are credible and enforced. Patients deserve better than a system of perpetual emergency, and the Government must stop normalising failure and start delivering real improvement.”