Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

All these questions are appropriate for the Minister for Health and not for me. While I obviously must mind the money and make sure the Government gets value for money, specific policy issues regarding the Department of Health come to the Government from the Minister for Health. However, there is a Cabinet sub-committee on health at which these matters are thrashed out clearly. There is a strategic view and plan and the Government is moving from over-dependence on acute hospital provision to the development of effective primary care provision. However, all these matters can be spelt out by the Minister for Health and the best way to so do probably is at a committee, where one has time to interact and bring along officials from both the HSE and the Department of Health for the discussion.

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