Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As to whether I believe that spending more on health is consistent with not getting better outcomes, the fact is that the State will need to spend more on the health service in 2019 because of the impact of demographics and the decisions that I anticipate the Government will make on the funding of Sláintecare. We will also have to spend more to deal with issues like new drugs. The narrative surrounding the reason for the difficulties in our health service is that the service is significantly underfunded. That is not true, though, given that €60 billion is being invested in public services. In the second half of the year, it is imperative that the work being undertaken by the Minister for Health in respect of governance, how the HSE will be run and how Sláintecare will be rolled out is seen through. We have to make that happen in a way that has not happened in the past. Otherwise, increased levels of expenditure will not deliver the better outcomes that I want.

All I will say about water charges is that, in all of the public and political debate, I made the point that, if we did not have water charges and a separate income stream to support water services, they would be paid for through general taxation. That was acknowledged by those in favour in the abolition of the charges. It is now just a fact that investment in water infrastructure competes with other forms of infrastructure for investment.

Regarding the Deputy's third point on how to translate the calls for more investment in housing into the delivery of more homes, the decisions that have been made on planning guidelines and bringing greater certainty and speed to the planning process have been important. They are not as important as an increase in capital expenditure on housing - clearly, we must do that - but they have had a significant effect. That planning permission was granted for more than 8,000 homes in the first quarter of this year is a positive sign, but I will say no more now. The Deputy will be as aware as I am of the anxiety and stress over housing currently. We are also aware of the risks involved in intervening in the market.