Fianna Fáil's promise to permanently end waiting lists by 2004 has been ridiculed by the Opposition.
There are 26,000 people on waiting lists for hospital treatment.
The Fine Gael leader, Mr Michael Noonan, said Fianna Fáil was making "bogus promises" and telling "blatant lies". "With the present disarray of the health services it simply cannot be done and they know it," he said.
The Labour health spokeswoman, Ms Liz McManus, said that, looking at Fianna Fáil's record on the health services over the past five years, it was apparent the waiting-list pledge was a "big lie".
The Fianna Fáil proposals would leave the two-tier health system in place, she said.
"Let's be honest - if public patients were black and private patients were white, this country would be accused of apartheid. If public patients were Catholic and private patients were Protestant, this country would be accused of sectarianism.
"The divide between treatment for public and private patients is as stark," she said.
However, when asked what sort of commitment Labour could give on reducing waiting lists within two years, Ms McManus declined to be specific, except to say it would do better than Fianna Fáil.Thousands of people in pain and suffering would get the care they needed under Labour's health policies, she said. The two-tier system would be ended by the party's policy of a universal health insurance system.
Earlier, the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, repeated his party's pledge to end waiting lists. He insisted it was a realistic aim.
To achieve this, 3,000 more beds were needed, as outlined in the National Health Strategy.
By the end of 2003, there would be an extra 709 beds in the health system.
He said the treatment purchase fund was one of the main ways in which waiting lists would be reduced.
However, he could not say when patients would begin to be sent abroad as part of that scheme.
He could not give an exact figure on how many people were waiting to get on hospital waiting lists.
He said reforming how waiting lists were calculated and the amount of time they were waiting was more crucial than how many were waiting.
People looking for hospital treatment were eligible to join a waiting list if waiting longer than three months, Mr Martin explained.
However, people awaiting out-patient treatment are not included on those lists.
Mr Martin said he would, if asked, like to be returned to the health portfolio if Fianna Fáil returned to government.
Asked if he would resign as Minister for Health if the waiting lists were not ended permanently, Mr Martin responded: "Absolutely not. In terms of the equity and fairness of the system people should not have to wait the length of time they are waiting for procedures."