James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

I will try to address both of the Deputy's questions in the short time available to me. I have not contradicted myself. We know with certainty the cases that are urgent. We do not know with certainty the cases that might be urgent. That is the way cases are categorised. In other words, we know the symptoms which cause concern and should be seeking to identify. Doctors know such cases are urgent. That is not to suggest that people with innocuous symptoms will not also transpire to have cancer. Let us face it, in some jurisdictions which carry out routine colonoscopies cancer is identified despite the patient having no other symptoms.

Given the current climate, we are focussing on urgent cases. It is our intention, through the additional resources we are putting in place, to tender to have the backlog of colonoscopies in hospitals cleared. I cannot, however, tell the House today how much funding is being put aside as to do so would render the tender expensive. In other words, if people know how much money we have that is the amount at which they will pitch their tender. I will not share that information with the House as I want to get best value for the taxpayer and the best service for the patient.

The Deputy is correct that hospitals are under pressure. It is a legacy of the previous Government that hospitals were €70 million in the red at the commencement of this year. The previous Government allowed a huge overrun in activity in the first three months. We must also meet our commitments under the EU-IMF arrangement.

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