David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

If I were a betting man, I would say that it will be close to €1 billion. I know the HSE will want to keep it under that amount, but we will wait and see what the figure is. I will not rehearse all of the arguments. We have made them privately and the publicly in the past. The level of funding for existing levels of service is unacceptable and has left us in a position where we have these Revised Estimates every year, which does not make sense. You cannot plan on that basis. It is not a real-world accountancy and budgetary process.

I wish to ask about Children’s Health Ireland. In response to a Dáil motion we tabled on supporting children with scoliosis and spina bifida, the Minister referenced the €19 million of additional investment made in 2022. He said he was informed by management of Children’s Health Ireland that on the basis of the commitment, if the money was given, by the end of that year, no child would be waiting longer than four months. That has not happened, as we know. The Minister now said that he asked auditors or an audit team to look at the €19 million provided because there is a concern it was not all spent for the purposes for which it was intended. We will have to wait and see the outcome of that audit. That strikes me as a real lack of accountability at a time when those children are waiting far too long for surgeries. Mr. Gloster knows this is a very sensitive issue, so I will not play politics with it. We all know these children deserve better and want and deserve better access to life-changing surgeries. When commitments have been given on two occasions that no child would wait longer than four months and when money is given for a specific purpose with a clear commitment that is then not realised, that is not acceptable. It is unacceptable that auditors are now looking at this.

My question is for Mr. Gloster as opposed to the Minister, although there is responsibility for the Minister here also. What is the accountable relationship between Mr. Gloster's office as the head of the HSE, or the HSE as a corporate body, and Children's Health Ireland in relation to the allocation of funding? If €19 million was given and we are now being told it is possible that not all this money was spent for the purposes for which it was intended, what are the reporting mechanisms and how is it not better captured by the HSE given the prominence of the issue? This was a big political issue. Promises were made, as Mr. Gloster knows, because of a campaign by parents and children. There was a lot of heated debate in the Dáil, as Mr. Gloster knows. This is why I am saying I cannot understand, given all of these circumstances, how we have ended up with no certainty about the €19 million.