Mr. Bernard Gloster:

On costs, the substantial portion of our deficit is in the non-pay area and the substantial driver of that is in inflation and health inflation, but within that, energy. Contracts are negotiated. We increasingly try to negotiate contracts - block contracts, big contracts and big supply contracts. We have a variety of different arrangements. I will give the Senator clarity on what it is and what we have done about it, because we have many different services, in a written follow-up today that sets out exactly what the approach to energy is.

Regarding the emergency department in Galway - the Secretary General may want to comment on this also – I have said previously that in terms of overall capital development, there is little doubt but that Galway is way behind the curve. The serious challenge in Galway for many years was there was much debate about whether to stay on the Galway University Hospital Galway, UHG, site or go to the Merlin Park site and so on. That is now much more settled. The elective site for Galway is already identified – Merlin Park. Just in the past few weeks, the Secretary General agreed that rather than take each individual component capital requirement for Galway - be it a lab, a ward block or the emergency department – we would get a full project team with good, strong expert advice from outside as well as inside to the Saolta group and we would rapidly ensure the overall capital plan for Galway is set out in terms of all the requirements. From that, we would prioritise which part would come first. That is the best approach. Having been there and seeing it, you could not but argue it is in pretty bad shape in respect of capital infrastructure. It will get and is getting a lot of serious attention. I expect that to significantly ramp up in the next couple of weeks.