Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I dealt with the question the Deputy asked yesterday. The Government has approved €13.6 billion for health services this year, which represents an increase of €800 million on last year. We are dealing with circumstances in which 1,000 beds were taken out of the system. We know the demographics and the fact the population is ageing. I pointed out to the Deputy yesterday the increase in the number of attendees with flu-like symptoms at accident and emergency departments and the fact there are 250,000 unused vaccines at present, of which people in vulnerable positions should avail. I also pointed out to the Deputy the importance of having an economy that is capable of dealing with the resources for investment in medical personnel, facilities and providing primary care centres, which are being built on an ongoing basis, and also in community facilities, increasing home care packages and the development of hospital groups evolving into trusts. This is to deal in a systematic way with providing health services of a much better kind for patients. The Deputy encountered all this himself. I am not going back. We can only go forward here.

The Deputy asked whether the Government had approved a budget that was inadequate in the eyes of the HSE. What the Government approved was the health service plan submitted by the HSE to the Minister. It includes an allocation of €13.6 billion for 2016, which is an increase of more than €800 million on last year's Estimate. We will not be in a position to provide all the services we need now - doctors, nurses, medical personnel, specialist facilities, the expansion of hospitals, including accident and emergency facilities, and all of those things - without having an economy that is capable of providing these resources. We had all of that before when an endless pot of money was thrown at a system that was not capable of dealing with it.

The Government has admitted that we have not been in a position to introduce universal health insurance. What it is committed to is a universal health care policy driven through primary care centres and communities and an expansion of facilities in hospitals. As the Deputy knows, 750 extra nurses and 300 consultants and specialists have been recruited in recent years. However, one must have the capacity and resources to employ these people. This means there are difficulties in many cases with patients and people who have to attend hospital for one reason or another. I understand the difficulties and the stress and pressure they cause, not only for front-line staff but also for patients.

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