Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As I have said, I have to take, and do take, responsibility for the framing of any budget. Ultimately, while line Departments have responsibility for specific projects, I hold myself accountable for overall decisions on how the country's money is used and I understand why the House is putting these questions to me. The majority of the discussions we had with the Department of Health were focused on current expenditure because that is where services are delivered. The two issues the Deputy has raised, and which I acknowledge he pressed during our budget discussions, are entirely issues of current expenditure. If the matter of the national children's hospital had come up in the way it has now, I would have asked the Minister, Deputy Harris, to quantify the costs. As he has outlined, that is what he and his Department are doing.

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