The Government's plan to eliminate hospital waiting lists next year was branded a shambles by Opposition parties last night after latest waiting list figures were published.
The figures show there were over 27,000 patients on hospital waiting lists at the end of September.
While this figure represented a fall of over 900 since June, Labour's health spokeswoman, Ms Liz McManus, said it was only "a minor improvement".
She said the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, had promised to abolish waiting lists within two years of being returned to power. That would mean no patients would be on waiting lists in six months time.
"It's quite clear they have no intention of abolishing waiting lists. It was a cynical gimmick to get them elected," she said.
Furthermore, she said the National Health Strategy, which promised no adult would have to wait more than 12 months and no child more than six months for treatment by the end of 2002, was now dead in the sand. Yesterday's figures indicate over 9,000 patients were still waiting more than a year for treatment at the end of September.
In addition, she said no attempt was being made to tackle the so-called hidden waiting times for patients, which refers to the length patients spend waiting to see a consultant so that they can be placed on a waiting list. These figures are not published.
Fine Gael's health spokeswoman, Ms Olivia Mitchell, said the reduction in the numbers waiting was "meagre" and the reduction, she claimed, had been brought about at the expense of people waiting even longer in accident and emergency departments.
"The bottom line is the system simply does not have enough beds. And no matter how Minister Martin tries to dress up the figures, there are still 27,212 people on hospital waiting lists," she said.