Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We will try to get the best value for and best utilisation of the limited budget we have. While I have not focused on managing the existing system, neither have I directed many officials to spend time on that. I could start tinkering around the edges of the existing system, but there are problems with training and regulation, supply and the postcode lotteries, as they are referred to. There are myriad challenges in the existing system. I have taken the political decision to move away from that and develop, from the ground up, a new system that is fit for purpose and that will address many of these issues collectively.

I will certainly look into the disparity in the Deputy's area that he asked about. It seems unusual for it to jump by 50%, particularly in those months.

The Minister, Deputy Harris, has asked me to chair an implementation body on delayed discharges, so that is an area in which I have a particular interest. I absolutely accept the financial point the Deputy makes that we can be penny wise and pound foolish, but there is a cost basis to this and we will be considering that. I will focus keenly on that with a view to tackling the issue of delayed discharges in the acute hospital system, because I have responsibility for the home care service. I will come back to the Deputy about his local query.

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