Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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In that case, I will squeeze both my questions together. In a recent response to a parliamentary question, the Minister stated that no serious work was yet under way on the maternity hospital and that the design phase had not started. One of the most important parts of this hospital is its co-location with the maternity hospital. Is there any provision in the Estimates to seriously ramp up the design phase, along with procurement and all the other professional services? A lot of money has to be spent on getting this maternity hospital moving. What provision is there in the Estimates for this?

Last year the overrun on the HSE budget was approximately €600 million. How is it doing at this moment regarding what we signed up to last December? What is its run rate and the level of spending in the context of what the Dáil has sanctioned?