Record number of patients waiting for outpatient appointments

Ireland's hospital waiting lists have increased by more than 10% over the past year.

There are now 564,829 people waiting for inpatient or outpatient treatment across the country.

This is 53,000 more than at the same time last year and 200,000 more than in 2014.

"What we have seen this month is that we are now setting a new record high with 564,000 people waiting for outpatient appointments," said Dr Gabrielle Colleran, from the Irish Hospital Consultants' Association.

"That is an average of almost 7,000 new patients being added each month to these waiting lists.

"We just can't accept it. All Irish people have a right to timely access to high-quality care.