John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I will move on to a few quick questions. I will briefly note the comparison of health spending in Ireland with other European countries. We are about halfway up or down the league table, depending what way you look at it.

Are there any statistics available on international comparisons in regard to getting bang for the buck, outcomes and so on? I do not need the Minister to answer this now but it would be useful to know where we stand. It seems we are better than most southern European countries. We are ranking mid-table and we are better than the Danes and Finns in terms of expenditure. Have we any data on outcomes or how is that measured? I do not want to take too much time on this but I am interested in those statistics. People in the Opposition often throw out terms like "Third World health service". I have been in Third World countries, which I will not name. We have a First World health system. Expenditure certainly is one indicator of that but it is not the only one. Is there other data that would point to that?