Minister for Health Simon Harris agreed more must be done to reduce patient waiting lists.

He said some 94 per cent of patients were being seen within a 15-month target and 60 per cent within the six-month period. “However, we must continue to try to do better,’’ he added.

Mr Harris said the situation was a result of difficult economic decisions in the past.

“We are now in a different place, where we can begin to reinvest in the health service, increase health budgets and the resources being made available to tackle the issues outlined,’’ he added.

The Minister was responding to Fianna Fáil spokesman Billy Kelleher who said it was a sad indictment of the situation, over the past number of years, that there had been an escalation in people waiting for inpatient day treatments. The figure now stood at 74,000 patients, he added.

Mr Kelleher said the waiting list for outpatient appointments had risen to 407,000.

Mr Harris said improving access for patients was a key objective for the public health service. The current HSE service plan undertook to maintain 2015 levels of service in respect of scheduled care and to continue to address waiting times as part of the regular performance and accountability process, he added.

He said the HSE sought to ensure those whose clinical needs were most urgent were prioritised, while managing the needs of those who had been waiting longest for routine treatment in chronological order.