According to recent data, there are over 250,000 people waiting in hospitals for medical scans.
59,000 people have been on the lists for more than a year, according to data from the National Treatment Purchase Fund.
The most recent statistics concern the number of patients in acute hospitals who are waiting for outpatient scans. These consist of MRI, CT, and ultrasound scans.
251,000 people were on the waiting list at the end of the previous year.
They include 38,000 individuals who have been on the waiting list for more than 18 months.
Sinn Féin’s health spokesman David Cullinane said the figures were shocking.
He told Newstalk radio: “We know that separate from diagnostic waiting lists we have just over 900,000 people on some form of hospital or acute hospital waiting list.
“Separate from that we have over 230,000 people who are on community waiting lists, and have just over a quarter of a million people waiting for a scan of some description.
“It’s incredible that we have the amount of people waiting for a scan that we do.”
The HSE clarified to Newstalk that the numbers refer to the number of people awaiting new appointments or follow-up scans.
Not every patient listed is awaiting access to a diagnostic scan, according to the statement.
According to the HSE, funds have been given this year to deal with the waiting lists.