The Health Minister Leo Varadkar says he is only interested in seeing hospital waiting lists that are accurate.

Mr Varadkar says lists that make the situation look better than it is are of no use to him when negotiating for a good health budget.

It was claimed yesterday that an internal memo was sent to Health Service Executive (HSE) staff, urging them to manipulate waiting lists.

Reports in the Sunday Business Post claimed an internal document urged employees to manipulate waiting lists in order to meet targets.

THe HSE says it has no knowledge of such a document.

Mr Varadkar is also insisting there is no HSE policy in place to manipulate hospital waiting lists.

Earlier, consultant ophthalmic surgeon Michael O'Keeffe told Newstalk Breakfast what has been done so far to reduce waiting lists is not working.