Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It would be helpful if the Department or Government could set a target of 95%, which would be closer to the EU figure. I am calculating the figure. Mr. Watt is saying 90% of the figure of €13 billion goes to Irish businesses. If another 5% was added to that, it would be another €700 million out of that figure of €13 billion going into the Irish economy just for making the effort. It is as simple as that and I do not mean to make light of it but somebody must drive this because every other country drives it for its own businesses.

I will make one suggestion that perhaps Mr. Watt should deal with. It relates to savings on drugs in respect of the HSE. There was a remarkable situation with the HSE. Perhaps Mr. Watt did not pick it up fully. He would not have been watching the discussion. I am pleased to hear Mr. Quinn is talking to all the people and the Department is trying to talk to businesses. A few months ago, I asked the head of the HSE to tell me what happens because the HSE was paying hundreds of millions of euro to some of these companies. I asked about the engagement with people from some of the biggest pharmaceutical manufacturers in Ireland which get hundreds of millions of euro from the Irish taxpayer for the products we need to purchase from them. He told me that they never met the companies. They just met a federation representing the group. That was shocking. It comes under Mr. Watt's remit even though it specifically relates to the Department of Health. Reining in health is a problem. That is where all the Supplementary Estimates come from. The Minister once asked me on the floor of the Chamber whether I could do anything to rein him in because he is difficult in that way. Even the troika has not fully succeeded in reining him in. It would be easier for Mr. Watt to phone up his counterpart in the National Health Service and ask them to buy an extra 10% at the price they are getting, which is much cheaper, so we can take them off them. One could do it that way. I would make that suggestion because somebody has to get a handle on it.

My last topic is the public-private partnerships, PPPs.