Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minster and his officials. We have had a discussion about the late arrival; I am not going to go into that at this moment. I am concerned about the size of the Supplementary Estimate at this stage. We need to get ahead of dead reckoning where budget is concerned in the delivery of health services. The dead reckoning is arrived at for a variety of things, which I am aware of. We can claim Covid-19 was an unforeseen circumstance, but it was not. It was always there. It was with us all the time. In any Estimate, there had to be a provision for that. We still have not got away from the shortfall at the end of the year. We still have that problem. There is a bigger shortfall than anticipated this time, even though the budgetary provision initially anticipated the challenge that lay ahead. We have not got up to speed in the way we should have at this stage. Are we putting all the figures together at the time of budget in such a way as to ensure we do not have an unforeseen shortfall? The comments about foreseen and unforeseen, anticipated and otherwise is something we come across every year. We should not have that situation in the health service because it is a very important area that affects every household, family and age group in the country in one way or another. Will the Minister comment on that?

I would like to pursue a few things that come to mind. I hope to contribute again if we have a second round of questions. I know we have other places to be as well. We keep getting complaints about the delivery of services in particular situations. I know there are legal cases and provision is made for State claims and so on. Is the value of State claims increasing? Are the claims normally anticipated or is there anything we should know about in that area? I have come across a number of cases, as has everyone present, and some could have been prevented. Accommodating such situations by way of State claims is not an answer. We need to get to prevention as quickly as possible or make the necessary provisions to ensure the likelihood of State claims is minimised to the greatest extent possible.

I have raised the issue of public services at different time in recent weeks. One of the things I have come across is patients with a life-threatening illness looking for a medical card as a means of security. They want to be reassured that this challenge, along with all the others, is being handled and managed. The response is simply not satisfactory. I have spent hours chasing phone numbers where there is no one to talk to. I am a public representative so I should know where they are, but the point is, that is not good enough when dealing with situations where patients already have enough of a challenge in a life-threatening illness or an illness resulting from a previous surgery that went wrong. We need to focus seriously on those issues to reassure the public. If we cannot reassure the public in the House, the public outside have no chance. I am not satisfied with the extent to which there is an urgent response in those situations. I have three such situations on my desk at present and the number is growing. This is a new issue. It was not, and should not be, part and parcel of the delivery of services in a vital area on which the public depend. I will give the Minister an opportunity to respond.