Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

The HSE procures €3.2 billion worth of goods and services each year. I want that figure to be reduced in line with what is happening in the economy. In addition, almost €2 billion is spent on drugs. A further €1 billion is spent on non-core pay, such as premium, overtime and on-call pay. The bulk of the reductions need to be found in that basket so that services to the public are not adversely affected. There is a major job to be done in Tallaght Hospital to address the deficiencies that have been identified in this report; in the PricewaterhouseCoopers report, which the hospital commissioned; and in the Teamwork report. The recommendations in the various reports that have examined the operation of Tallaght Hospital need to be implemented as soon as possible. I have received a commitment from the chairman that that will happen.

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