Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. He asked about the children's hospital. As the capital plan has not been agreed yet for this year, I do not have the updated figure or whether there is a projected overrun on the cost of the children's hospital. I will get the information for the Deputy.

The Deputy also asked about the complete split between public and private health care. That is the subject of the de Buitléir report, which is expected to be provided to the Minister imminently. I cannot answer the question definitively as to what we will do to separate public healthcare from private healthcare until we get the report. The details in the report will be used as a roadmap to achieve that end. There will be cost implications that we will have to handle in that regard. I cannot say any more until we get the report.

I am not trying to be provocative. Anybody who knows me knows I am one of the least partisan. When I talk about politics being opportunistic, I talk about myself and my party as much as anybody else. I was not trying to be provocative and I apologise if that is the way it came across. Sometimes, when people talk about the health service, whether it is at the pub counter or outside the church at mass, the blame tends to be laid at the door of the managers. It is a simplistic solution to suggest that if management was addressed that we would have a great health service. The point I was trying to make is that balance is required in the debate, but that does not take from what Deputy Chambers said. My point is halving the number of managers in the morning would not be a silver bullet. I am not sure that we would be much further advanced if that were to happen.

To clarify, we do not intend to change the hospital groups as part of Sláintecare. The Chairman can confirm if I am correct in that regard.