Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Has the Cabinet committee on health met to discuss the health budget? There are constant leaks to the newspapers that the likely level of deficit in the health service will run anywhere from €800 million to €1 billion this year. I do not know how a functioning Minister for Health can be in charge of a Department where that level of overspend, that lack of control and that lack of involvement in the management of the Department is such a regular feature of it, and Fine Gael has run that Department for over seven years.

It means that the situation for children with scoliosis, for example, will always be out of reach of being addressed. When I was Tánaiste I secured extra funding which the Taoiseach used to build the additional facilities and yet I read harrowing accounts every week from families, particularly those with children with special needs who are also affected by scoliosis. The numbers are growing and the patients are getting further away from having their surgery. How can the Taoiseach countenance a Minister in his Cabinet being entirely unable to even influence the level of the budget? How can he talk about Sláintecare happening if there is no concept of what a proper budget for the Department is? It is a total failure and shambles on the part of his Government.

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