The Health Minister is to bring a memo to Cabinet this morning outlining a further reduction in the number of people on waiting lists around the country.
Stephen Donnelly will tell his ministerial colleagues that 2023 was the second year in a row to see the numbers fall.
In Budget 2023, 443 million euro was allocated to address waiting lists with a target of removing 1.66 million patients from the lists.
In figures being brought before Cabinet today, the Minister will show evidence that 1.74 million were removed, that's over 177 thousand more compared with 2022.
Last year also saw the HSE exceed the 10 per cent reduction target in the number of patients waiting longer than 10 or 12 weeks for treatment.
Donnelly will tell colleagues that since the Covid peak there has been a 27 per cent reduction in the number waiting longer than the Sláintecare targets – which equates to 170 thousand people.
Figures released last summer from the National Treatment Purchase Fund found that almost 500 thousand people were waiting beyond the maximum period for key hospital services.
