There is an "unprecedented meltdown'' in the health services, Independent Senator Prof John Crown has said.

“Problems I identified 22 years ago, when I first came back to the country, are just as bad or worse than they ever were, despite numerous changes of government,’’ he said. “The blame attaches to the parties on both sides of the House.’’

Prof Crown, who called for a special Seanad debate on the health services, said it was embarrassing that some 400,000 people were on waiting lists in a country with a population of 4.5 million.

"One hears figures in the United States for the percentage of the young urban male population who are engaged with the criminal justice system, but this is every bit as embarrassing,'' he added.

“Nearly 10 per cent of people in this country – certainly more than 10 per cent of adults – are waiting to be seen in the health service.’’

Prof Crown said some 778 had been waiting for more than four years, while 83,000 had been waiting for over one year. “The issue is the sheer bloody abnormality of waiting for one year to see a doctor in a modern western country, yet the penny has still not dropped after 22 years.”

Renua Ireland Senator Paul Bradford complimented Prof Crown on his remarks, adding they were a stark reminder nothing had changed as far as the health service administration was concerned.