Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Excellent, that is clarity, at least, although I doubt if I will get clarity in response to the rest of my question.

Today the Taoiseach repeated something the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform said on the day of the budget. It was the assertion that this budget includes the biggest health allocation in the history of the State. That was challenged within minutes of the claim being made during the budget by Susan Mitchell, a journalist with the Sunday Business Post. She also stripped out - I heard the Taoiseach make reference to this - the reduction in the budget that would have resulted from taking out the allocation for the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. She pointed out that the total and absolute budget was bigger in 2008 than it was this year. It is important that we have clarity on who is correct and to have clear figures, comparisons and explanations that stand up in respect of what was taken out of the Department of Health. There was considerable messing around with figures last year on the health budget. I put it to the Taoiseach that we need clarity on this. We deserve that and the public deserves clarity on the health budget. We should also have the honest admission - again this has been asserted by many - that the allocation, if it is an increase, is almost certainly not an increase in real terms when we strip out Lansdowne Road arrangements, the inclusion of the €500 million cost over-run from last year as well as the demographic pressures that would have required extra budget resources in any event. The question is about what service delivery is going to be like. In other words, do we now have additional resources that will lead to additional and improved quality of services? The doctors came out today and criticised the €15 million to deal with the crisis in accident and emergency departments. One group called the allocation pathetic and said it would not deal with the crisis at all.

I would like clarity on mental health. I have just heard a reference to €35 million which the Taoiseach said has been allocated. However, in the Budget Statement reference to additional funding for health, there is no reference to mental health whatsoever. Instead, there is reference to the level of mental health services being delivered within the available funding. Is it the same? That is what I want to know. Have we given additional funding to mental health? The commitment of the Government and of the House is to the full implementation of A Vision for Change to deal with the fact that our mental health teams are at 48% of the staffing levels they should have and that we need 24/7 emergency mental health services.

My next question is on home care packages. I have asked this question several times, including during the budget debate and in respect of specific people. There was crowing about the fact that there will be 950 extra home care packages, but this is still 6,000 home care packages south or less than it was before the cuts started in 2008. I want a simple answer from the Minister for Health, who is sitting near the Taoiseach. It relates to the cases that I have on my desk - I suspect others have them as well - involving people whose need for home care packages is acknowledged. Are they going to continue to be told that the budget is not there? That is what I want to know.

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