Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I asked the Minister to comment on what the chief executive of the NTPF said. I would be very grateful if he could. That to me indicates a preference before this important work has even started. As part of the waiting list plan, I know the Minister is considering a number of options. I wonder why we are not at this stage integrating the digital options as part of that. Since we have limited time, perhaps the Minister could use all of the time he has to comment on the remarks made by the chief executive. I believe it is very worrying that the person who is going to examine waiting list options has publicly stated a preference for the private sector over the public sector. I fully respect the fact the Minister comes into the House and says that he is very focused on the public. He is indeed the Minister for the public sector. However, he is channelling money into the private sector. As I have said before, he will never improve the public service by putting money into the private sector. I think he knows that. I ask him to respond specifically to the comments that were made by the chief executive.

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