There has been a further rise in national hospital waiting list figures to the end of July.
Overall, there were over 990,870 patients waiting for some kind of treatment, according to the National Treatment Purchase Fund.
This is an increase of over 9,500 patients on the June figures, or 0.9%.
The largest element of the waiting lists remain the number waiting to be seen at an outpatient department for the first time.
There were over 683,540 patients waiting for an outpatient appointment at the end of July, compared with 673,750 the previous month.
Separately, there are almost 36,000 patients suspended from waiting lists, because they are unable or unfit to attend, or for other reasons, including where patients are being treated through various insourcing or outsourcing initiatives.
It comes as the number of children and young people waiting for spinal surgery reduced to 199 patients last month, according to new figures from Children's Health Ireland (CHI).
At the same time last year, the CHI spinal surgery waiting list was 231 patients.
In addition, there were also nine children waiting for spinal surgery at the National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh in Dublin at the end of last month.
Since January 2026, there have been 229 procedures added to the surgical waiting list, while 279 spinal surgeries have been carried out in the same timeframe.
Seven patients are waiting between 12-15 months for their procedure, two are waiting between 18-24 months and one is waiting between 24-36 months.
CHI also said that at the end of July, 431 patients were on the outpatient department waiting list, a reduction of over 22.6%, compared with 557 patients at the same point last year.
CHI Chief Executive Lucy Nugent said the figures show continued progress being made in reducing waiting times and ensuring children receive the care they need.
She said CHI will continue to make every effort to achieve the target of 540 procedures by the end of this year, but its overall aim is to reduce waiting times for patients.
Dave Moore, head of the Spinal Surgery Management Unit at CHI, said that all patients are prioritised for spinal surgery based on their diagnosis, size of spinal deformity, the presence of other conditions, and other factors.
He added that since the beginning of the year, more spinal surgeries have been carried out, than new procedures added to the waiting list.
