Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Kelleher rightly identified the fact we had a significant number of people on hospital trolleys in January. I pointed out that one of the contributing factors was the decision to reduce hospital beds. That is why we are going to put in more hospital beds. We already have opened 170 and we will open 300 this year. I expect the capacity review will be funded through the capital plan process.

I do not believe the debate about health care can always be just about money. If it were, then the problems in the health service would have been fixed many years ago. The idea that the answer to every challenge in the health service is to write another cheque misses the point. It has to be about value for money also. I know Deputy Kelleher accepts there are ways of getting better value for money for the taxpayer through savings in procurement, the use of supplies and corporate costs. These are used in other health services, such as the National Health Service, NHS. Members say they want to create a NHS-type system. This is the norm in many of the health services Members would like to create here.

Just to disagree with Deputy O'Reilly in case she gets too carried away, nobody suggested everything is going to be achieved in the value for money programme through saving money on travel. It is one of several elements through which one can make savings at corporate level. She knows this from her long time around the health sector. One can save money through procurement and supplies. One can save money in the same way any business or public service does without impacting on services.

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