The number of people waiting 18 months or more for outpatient treatment in some local hospitals has more than doubled since the pandemic.
This figure has more than trebled in Portiuncula University Hospital between March 2020 and August of this year.
As of March 26th last year, 240 people in Portiuncula University Hospital had been waiting 18 months or longer for outpatient treatment.
This figure grew to 826, as of the 26th of August.
There was a near doubling in Sligo University Hospital, from 2,852 at the beginning of the pandemic to 5,414 in the most recent figures.
This figure more than doubled in Galway University Hospitals, from 8,768 to 19,298.
It also more than doubled in Roscommon University Hospital and Cavan General Hospital, from 905 to 2,033 and 314 to 794 respectively.
The numbers of people waiting 18 months or more also rose significantly in Mullingar Hospital, from 940 at the start of the pandemic to 1,374.
The increase was less pronounced in Tullamore Hospital, rising from 5,163 to 5,863, while there's been a near seven-fold increase in Our Lady of Lourdes, Drogheda, up from 203 in March 2020 to 1,416.
Cavan-Monaghan TD Pauline Tully says an urgent plan is needed to catch up on missed care and to reduce waiting lists".]
