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

I refer again to the State Claims Agency. It would be beneficial if we had an audit of the claims and their origins for the past ten years to date. The leakage in funds is sufficiently worrying that nothing else will show due diligence in respect of what is emerging. I saw files from two different patients during the week. One case involved a procedure that went wrong and had to be corrected with significant extra expenses. We need to know what procedures go wrong that result in negligence claims. How often do they happen and do they have a particular place of origin? What is the cause of the problem? As to the corrective measures and the amount of time and money spent and the impact on the patient, in one case the impact on the patient was lifelong. It cannot be reversed and that is just the way it is. If the procedure had been performed differently, there would have been a better outcome for the patient and the State.

I ask the Minister to provide this information as soon as possible. If he has those details today, that is good and well. I would like a detailed publication of the information. What was the prevalence of the cases that are coming up and what have been their subsequent cost to the State? This should include a breakdown of the costs, be they medical, legal or otherwise, as well as a comparison of what the patient received in direct compensation and what the costs were. We need to have that information as a matter of urgency.

I refer to the allocation of funding in relation to monkeypox, the incidence of which is rising from zero. Is adequate provision being made for that in the future? Since June, €2.6 million funding has been applied to subhead L1 to fund the revised contract and fee structure for GPs of the CervicalCheck programme. How is that proceeding and will there be ready access? We need to know if there are any delays incurred by patients as part of CervicalCheck, such as delays after the check, delays in gaining access to the check, or delays in accessing necessary treatment.

We have to look at hospital waiting lists again. I had occasion to join a person from my constituency who had to go to an accident and emergency department in the past six months. One was a successful visit. When the patient arrived in the morning, the department was full of people waiting but it cleared within two hours. It was a dramatic performance by this hospital. Whereas in the other hospital, there was a different situation altogether. There were only a few people in the department at the beginning of the day but the number grew as the day went by, which leads me to ask what was happening. Of course there were people coming in, but there had to be people being treated and moving on as well. Why do some hospitals have a quick and satisfactory turnaround time and provide a satisfactory experience for patients while others do not? They keep repeating this again and again on the same basis. I compliment those who are doing it well and ask whether it is possible to direct some of their expertise to those which are not doing it so well, to bring the standard up to where it should be. What experiences have we learned in the past year arising from unforeseen circumstances? Were they all unforeseen or were they obvious beforehand?

I refer to the national children's hospital. The Minister is absolutely right. Saying the cost is going to go up and advertising this to the public is crazy. The contractors and subcontractors will obviously be rubbing their hands in glee the more the Minister admits the costs will increase, such as saying how the costs may go to €1.4 billion, €1.8 billion, €2 billion or perhaps €3 billion. Why not tell them at the beginning it will cost €5 billion and have done with it, so they know they have a worthwhile objective for which to strive? It is very important that this is done at this stage. I refer to the children's hospital from the point of view of the patients and staff who will attend. I fully support the hospital. It is a huge boon for parents and children all over the country who have been waiting for a state-of-the-art health service that will meet their requirements, of which there are many. I ask that we look carefully at small details that could have a negative impact. I will not go through specific-----