Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

We have continued working with the trade unions to deal with the issue of last September's embargo and we have delivered increased capital expenditure into several developments in those hospitals and will continue to do that. Like every organisation the HSE has to live within the budget agreed in its own plan. It has to manage that throughout the year. Last year there was criticism in the House when it only started doing that in the last quarter. If it is doing it over a longer period of a year, that is the correct thing to do.

There are 130,000 people working full-time or part-time in our public health service. The Government's ongoing investment in the health service has increased every year that I have been here. We have increased the numbers of doctors, nurses and other health-care professionals employed in the public health service. We have invested heavily in the education of front-line staff in personnel to ensure a sufficient supply graduates.

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