Some patients have been waiting over four years for a hospital procedure, according to a leading HSE official.
The target is for outpatient lists be down to 18 months by December – and a year for inpatient procedures.
Just under 700,000 people are waiting for one of these consultations at the moment.
Tony Canavan, the chief executive of the Saolta Hospital Group which covers Donegal, says the targets will be difficult to achieve:
