Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for their ongoing energy. Being here can be gruelling and I imagine it is a lot more difficult on their side of the room than it is over here. Before I proceed to put further questions to our guests, I want to thank Deputy Durkan in his absence. He made some quite extraordinary statements earlier which, from what I can see, fit very neatly with Orwellian doublespeak. He seems to have recast a €650 million budget going to €1.7 billion as not being an overspend. According to Deputy Durkan, there has been no overspend or overrun, there was simply an underestimation. That is extraordinary. It is a bit like agreeing a price of €200,000 for a house with a builder who comes back 18 months later and states that more pipes and wiring are needed and that the new cost will be €600,000 but that the good news is that this is not an overspend or an overrun, it was just caused by an underestimation. On a serious point, the Deputy's recategorisation of the amount of taxpayer's money that is being used is an insult to everyone who uses the healthcare system and to those who pay taxes. The idea that we would dismiss an increase from €650 million to €1.7 billion and counting - because it seems like it will go a lot higher - as not being an overspend or an overrun is an insulting re-spin in the context of what we all know to have happened.

I would like to go into the issue of private practice with Ms Hardiman. There was a public report to the effect that there would be a private entrance as part of the hospital. I asked the Minister about this and he came back to me in writing just yesterday.