Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Department of Health is one of the most expensive Departments along with that of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. I think our spend per person is way up there compared with other OECD countries, but are we getting the value for money for the amount invested? Every year it increases by millions yet there seems to be no improvement of services, and there are still waiting lists. One would imagine that when one allocates millions extra every year it would relieve the pressure, not add to it, yet more money is spent and there is less progress and less value for money.