To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many patients were waiting more than six months for an NHS in-patient operation in each month since November 2005 at a hospital in Northern Ireland. (96831)

Official waiting lists are produced on a quarterly basis. Information on the number of patients waiting more than six months for in-patient treatment in Northern Ireland hospitals is provided in the following table for the quarters ending December 2005, March 2006 and June 2006.

There is a ministerial commitment that by March 2007 no one will have to wait more than six months for in-patient or day case treatment.