Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

I do not accept that. With regard to the question of where the beds will be located, we considered the private activity in public hospitals. For example, last year some 46% of elective surgery at Tallaght Hospital was carried out on private patients. The beds will be located in Waterford, Limerick, where plans are fairly advanced, and in Dublin at St. James's Hospital, Beaumont Hospital and the James Connolly Memorial Hospital, Blanchardstown, which all have plans. The matter is one for the HSE to advance, considering the overall needs of particular hospitals and the situation in each area. We do not want to displace existing private hospitals so the process must make sense at a local level as well.

I do not accept that we are not taking responsibility. There are clear lines of accountability under the new arrangement. There is one Minister for Health and Children, responsible to the Oireachtas for health policy. The chief executive officer of the HSE is the Accounting Officer and he is responsible to the Oireachtas for the expenditure of money on day-to-day health care services.

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