James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Thirteen, with one lead.

Deputy McLellan’s questions on what is the formula are very salient. We need to publish them so that we have transparency. This will be part of our communications drive to reassure people they have been treated fairly. As I said this morning at the conference, the informed and empowered patient is the safe patient. Similarly, informed clients can be assured their situation has been dealt with fairly.

The Health Service Executive, HSE, will answer the question on the number of full-time mental health beds for respite care. Mr. Philip Crowley will answer Deputy Catherine Byrne’s question on the membership of the review committee for the protection of life during pregnancy legislation.

Hollybrook Lodge will open under the auspices of St. James’s to allow for the demolition of Hospital 7 which is to make way for the new paediatric hospital. I know the Deputy has been concerned that the hospital would be for locals. I have been assured that many of the patients moving there have addresses in Inchicore. However, no nursing home is entirely occupied by people from its locality.

I will have to refer all Deputy Regina Doherty’s questions about Ian Carter’s team to the HSE and Mr. O’Brien. We can examine the issue of funding for ISQSH, the Irish Society for Quality and Safety in Healthcare. However, as members have already heard this is not a good year to be looking for funding in health.

Deputy Creighton talked about the likelihood of a Supplementary Estimate for the Department in 2014 and that the troika’s scrutiny will be gone by then. I am very conscious it is still here so I am not going to talk about Supplementary Estimates, other than to say we have a serious challenge to meet and we will have to have a Supplementary Estimate this year. I hope to keep it below €200 million. She also raised the issue of the reduction in tax relief for medical insurance. That is a decision for the Minister for Finance. Some work has been done already on the analysis of the impact to which she alluded. We do not have the full figures on this. The Department of Finance will work hard with the insurers around the logistics of this and how it is implemented. They would have entered into contracts and priced them without knowledge of this decision. We want to have as many people in health insurance as possible by the time we reach the stage of implementing universal health insurance. We hope we will have much better growth and income in the future with the economy turning around. I hope this will enhance our plans for universal health insurance but it will be a matter for the Minister for Finance, not for me.

Deputy Harrington inquired about means-testing which is already done by the Department of Social Protection. Deputy Richard Bruton highlighted this when we were in opposition. I have discussed this with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and that it should be once-off and not having people running around to five different agencies.