David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We all accept - I certainly do - that each and every hospital should comply with data sharing. It is very important for the health system generally and for clinicians to have data across all hospitals. It is also important for policy and the wider health services in terms of the Department, the HSE and the political system. I agree with that.

The difficulty with pausing capital investment is that patients suffer. At the end of the day, it is not the hospital manager who will suffer if that occurs. What will happen is that vital projects that need to proceed will then be paused. That is with regard to data sharing, however. There is also the issue of funding allocated to hospitals not being spent in an appropriate way or in the way in which it was intended. Last week in the Dáil, the Minister said he could not guarantee the €19 million provided for children's orthopaedic services had all been spent for the purposes for which it was intended. I know an audit is ongoing, and the Minister will not comment on that until it is complete. If, when the audit is complete, it finds the money was not spent for the purposes for which it was intended, what course of action can the Minister take?

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