Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

A very competitive proportion is allocated to each area, be it cancer care, mental illness care, including suicide prevention, or primary care. They are all very worthy causes. The reality is that we have increased funding for health care substantially. The increase the HSE received since it was established, that is, over €4 billion, is more than we spent running the entire service approximately 11 years ago. This puts the expenditure into perspective. If money alone could solve our problems, none of us would be here today talking about the health service. A programme of massive reform must accompany investment and that is why I, along with many Deputies, believed strongly for 20 years that a unified system with consistently enforced standards in respect of cancer care and quality——

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