Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is a shortfall in income generated by acute hospitals of €30 million. In light of Sláintecare and the decoupling of private and public health care, we will see this happening continuously. It did not come in as a Supplementary Estimate but will be in the original figures next year. It is interesting that it is €30 million. I understand where all the money is going and commend the Minister on the 1.4% increase, which is not a huge amount of the budget but is still a vast amount of money. There is a €30 million shortfall in income from acute hospitals and €50 million for State agencies. We think of the money that we need. I understand there is a certain amount of money there for the starting of the implementation of the Sláintecare report but this is something that we know will reorientate the health service. A concern many people involved in the public sector and the provision of health care have is that the budget always seems to increase. If there is an increase in demand, one can understand how a budget would have to increase but we should really look at efficiencies that can offer more for less.

I commend the Minister on the money that he and his Department have diverted to try to address the fall-off in the HPV vaccine. We often see the Minister at this committee and I feel like he is almost a member of it at this stage. He took this on fearlessly and took the advice of experts since he is not coming from a medical background. It is a lesson to all Ministers that if experts come to one with expert advice, it should be taken on board. We have seen a reversal in the downward trajectory of the HPV vaccine uptake. It has gone from 50% to 61% which, as far as I know, is a first globally. The Minister, his Department, the Irish Cancer Society and the rest of us that put our heads up when it was an unpopular thing to do and stood up for the health of the people of Ireland will hopefully go down as one of the Minister's greatest achievements. I am sure he has plenty to come. While we have this momentum, we should look at funding to address male vaccination. I know we had projected it to happen in the future but now that we are on a roll, it would be my view that we should take advantage of it and that people should realise that in 30 years' time, the Minister and I will be walking down the street among women who would have been dead but for the Minister's intervention and bravery.

I have previously raised the Trinity College Dublin work that the Minister mentioned with regard to the waiting lists. The number of people waiting on lists is a concern but a certain amount of rationalisation has to be done. I have had many instances with my own children where the consultant does not want to see them for two years because he or she is waiting to see how whatever is wrong with them develops. I was not aware that they then entered the waiting lists. They are waiting but it does not relate to a supply of care, rather a period that has to pass before they can be assessed correctly. I look forward to Trinity College Dublin's work on this. When we talk about the alignment of the community health organisations and other groups, we need to know what we are counting to have an impact.

Will the Minister update us on what has happened with scoliosis patients in Ireland to date and what we are hoping to achieve next year? I am sure everybody is concerned. We are all conscious of media reports and the suffering of children waiting for scoliosis treatment.