Hospital waiting lists have risen since March, figures released last night by the Minister for Health and Children reveal.
The figures show that 26,659 people were waiting for treatment in June, a rise of 277 on the figure for March.
However, the Minister, Mr Martin, emphasised a 16 per cent reduction in the waiting list between June 2000 and June 2001.
In that period, the waiting list for cardiac surgery fell by 52 per cent, for gynaecology by 35 per cent, for ENT by 30 per cent, for ophthalmology by 23 per cent and for orthopaedics by 14 per cent.
"Hospital waiting lists must be viewed against the background of a hospital system which discharged some 870,000 in-patients in 2000", the Minister said. "The number of people currently on hospital in-patient waiting lists represents just 3 per cent of all in-patient discharges in 2000.
" This Government will continue to focus on waiting lists and waiting times in order to ensure that services are available and accessible to those who most need them", the Minister said.
The biggest falls in waiting lists in the year to June were in the Southern and North-Western Health Boards (36 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively).
The lowest were in the South-Eastern Health Board and Eastern Regional Health Authority (11 per cent in each).
The ERHA has been complaining that hospitals beds in Dublin are being taken up by patients from health boards outside the region who could be treated in hospitals in their own areas.
Mr Brian Hayes, the Dublin Fine Gael TD, yesterday accused the Minister for Health of a "monumental failure of management" after The Irish Times reported that little use had been made of 20 surgical beds provided at St Michael's Hospital, D·n Laoghaire, to take patients off the waiting list at St Vincent's University Hospital.
However, a source at St Michael's Hospital last night said that the unit had done a considerable amount of work in clearing waiting lists for St Vincent's.
It had "some spare capacity" due to the hospital's efficiency in not keeping patients in beds unnecessarily.