Health Minister James Reilly has spent nearly €1.5 million on external experts hired to help reduce hospital waiting lists and ED trolley waits since he took office in March 2011, new figures show.

While waiting lists fell substantially last year, numbers waiting have nearly doubled since the start of this year.

There have been some reductions made in ED trolley numbers, but these still remain high, with 264 patients on trolleys on one day last week. Latest figures also show there are nearly 380,000 patients waiting for outpatient appointments in hospitals.

Minister Reilly, in a Dail reply this week, revealed that the Senior Policy Adviser to his Special Delivery Unit set up to tackle waiting lists, UK expert Dr Martin Connor, has been paid a total of €544,520 since his appointment in 2011.

PA consulting has to date been paid €429,241 for advice on tackling treatment waiting lists, while UK expert Lis Nixon, who is in charge of improving performance in unscheduled care with the SDU, has so far been paid €253,166 by Dr Reilly's Department.

In addition, the Centre for Diagnostic Management has been paid €222,376 for waiting list advice, while Dr Hubert Curran has been paid €10,008, and the Northern Ireland Southern Health and Social Care trust has been paid €4,998 for advice on this issue.

The figures on external consultancy spending were given to Fianna Fail Health Spokesman Billly Kelleher.

It was recently announced that Dr Martin Connor is to leave his post later this year, more than a year earlier than expected.

He is currently on a three-year-contract worth €400,000. Part of the payments made to him to date - €250,000 - relate to his work on the establishment of the SDU back in 2011. The remaining payments made to him relate to his ongoing work with the SDU.

Ms Nixon is currrently being paid €164,000 per year under a three-year contract until the end of 2014.

88% rise in treatment waiting lists