There has been a sharp increase in the number of adults waiting longer than eight months for a hospital procedure.
Almost 9,700 adults were waiting for longer than eight months by the end of September - an increase of 11% in a single month.
The HSE said the trend was set to continue until at least the end of this year.
It also reported a 42% increase in its spending on agency staff despite a slight increase in the number of people working for the HSE itself.