Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As already stated, as a former Minister of State in the Department of Health, the Deputy will appreciate that it would not be appropriate for the Minister of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery, and Reform or for a Minister of State in his Department, in the middle of contractual discussions relating to the continuation or extension of contracts, the hiring of additional personnel or whatever is required for the service, to volunteer an opinion on behalf of the Department that ultimately holds the purse strings. My Department is not the one with the policy role and it does not lead the implementation of policy in this area.

I totally understand the concerns expressed by Deputy Shortall, as does every Member of the House, with regard to how the lack of home care is affecting people in our constituencies. Some of us actually feel this more personally than others. However, it is a matter for the Minister for Health, in conjunction with the HSE, to outline how they propose to spend the allocated moneys that are voted from the Dáil, why they might require a Supplementary Estimate and so on. There is a process for that and there is also a process in the context of the Estimates. I hope that once a conclusion is reached with regard to contractual arrangements on 30 June that this will form part of the discussions for 2024.

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