Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)

Since 5 September, 110 staff members have been appointed to frontline services — including care of the elderly and disability services — at Beaumont Hospital. These are the facts and they are provided by the HSE. When protecting the vulnerable, it is very important that we look at the details of the budget. It is important that Deputy Durkan pays attention to the issues in this budget. Despite the economic downturn, I see that the carer's allowance is up €14 per week and the carer's grant is increased to €1,700. An extra €1.1 billion is being spent on health, €50 million is being spent on the disability sector and €276 million extra is being spent when we add cancer services to elderly and disability services. Child benefit is up €6 per week. For example, families with two children under six will now get €6,148. That is a major step in the right direction and I commend the Minister on this. The big one is the €2.5 million for cystic fibrosis which will be rolled out in January. This goes some of the way towards building a more caring society. I look forward to other services being rolled out in the interests of patients.

In recent days, I have been in talks with individuals who were involved in building an independent hospital beside Beaumont Hospital. This project is worth €254 million.

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