Nearly 50,000 people are waiting more than a year for treatment at hospitals around the country.

Over 2,800 cases on waiting lists are children, according to figures published in today's Irish Independent.

At Dublin's Tallaght Hospital, more than 6 thousand 9 hundred people were waiting over a year at the end of September.

Bantry Hospital in Cork is the only facility where patients get to see their consultant within 12 months.

The Minister for Health's spokesperson says new approaches are a 'priority' for hospital groups next year.

Professor John Crown, consultant oncologist and Senator spoke to Jonathan Healy on Lunchtime about the lists today, stating that the system is not particularly underfunded but mal-funded: "I think there's a lot of budgetary disfunction."

"Ultimately, what gets them in trouble at the end of the year with the person they answer too is overspending."

He continued: "The system we have allowed to evolve is rife with inefficiencies. Putting managers at the centre of it instead of the clinical leaders at the centre with the patient being at the centre of all of the activities has been an error."

He urged Minister Varadkar to end the problem: "Let him be bold. Let him be reforming. Let's fix this thing, let's stop talking about it.

Here is the interview in full: