Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to raise this important issue.

Most times I speak I mention Tallaght, but this is about Tallaght Hospital and other hospitals in the region and the country. I was guided by the edition of the Tallaght Echo published this morning which stated "Hospital Rocked by Further Cuts".

I have been committed to Tallaght Hospital since the beginning. The then Minister, Deputy O'Hanlon, appointed me to the planning board of Tallaght Hospital in 1988. I was involved proudly right the way through and reappointed by different Ministers, including those of different persuasions which I took as a compliment to the community. When the hospital opened in 1998, I was a member of that board and I have remained associated with the hospital. I am proud of the hospital and the service it provides.

The hospital has had many challenges since then, particularly in recent times, and the new economic climate adds to that burden. I pay tribute to the Tallaght Hospital Action Group. I and the other three Deputies for the area, Deputy Rabbitte, the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, and Deputy Brian Hayes, were present at a meeting in the Plaza Hotel last night at which we discussed concerns of the hospital action group. I was aware of a statement issued by the Tallaght Hospital board yesterday complimenting the Tallaght Hospital Action Group on its work not only now, but over the years.

Tallaght Hospital has developed well over the past ten years but there are still problems and challenges. The Adelaide and Meath Hospital Dublin Incorporating the National Children's Hospital Tallaght provides both tertiary and secondary services to a population of 1.4 million people. The hospital is a provider of local, regional, supra-regional and national specialties, and over 310,000 patients are treated in the hospital annually. The board has been acting responsibly and has been working with the HSE and the Department in recent times. The HSE recently notified the hospital of its 2009 budget allocation.

This is set against a background where, unfortunately, the hospital is set to lose cancer services. This is something I regret. The hospital has a development control plan and I am delighted to note that this provides for the proposed move of the Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital to Tallaght, the new paediatric ambulatory and urgent care centre which will be located in Tallaght, the co-located private hospital, the next phase of the faculty of health sciences and what the hospital board describes as other clinical developments.

There have also been many positive developments in recent times, including the centre for cardiovascular risk in younger persons, CRYP, officially opened in 2008, a bowel screening service, which is proving very successful, and the expansion of the laboratories.

The HSE announcement yesterday is what I want to highlight tonight. People in Tallaght are very concerned. They point out that while all hospitals are subject to cuts in their budget from the HSE, the cut in Tallaght is particularly stark and has caused a great deal of shock. I want guarantees from the Minister, either tonight or otherwise, that patient care and those services will not be affected by any proposed cuts and I ask the Minister to ensure that the HSE plan takes account of this. It is important that such an assurance is given.

At the end of the day, the hospital, like every hospital in every region of the country, is about patient care. I have been a patient in Tallaght Hospital. I know what it is like to be challenged by health problems that require hospital services. I have always taken the view, with which I am sure the Acting Chairman, Deputy Johnny Brady, would agree, that a sick person who goes to any of our hospitals should be looked after properly. Media coverage of the proposed cuts to the HSE budgets mean that people are crying out for guarantees that, whatever else is cut, and I know this is a challenge, patient care is maintained. I hope the Minister of State conveys that message to the Department and to the Minister for Health and Children.

Máire Hoctor (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail)
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The key priority for the Government and the Health Service Executive in dealing with serious budgetary pressures on the health services is to minimise the effect on services for patients to the greatest degree possible. The HSE is facing financial pressures arising in a large degree from the broader economic situation, an increase in the number of medical cards and lower receipts from the health levy. These cost pressures are factors outside the HSE's management control. However, while dealing with this, the executive is also clear that it must do all in its power to control costs within the planned profile of spending over the year. The HSE board met yesterday to consider these pressures and the executive will now work intensively with the Minister and her Department to manage this situation.

We will have to deliver more for a given level of resources and this will require the co-operation of all in the health sector. A key objective for the Health Service Executive in 2009 is to reduce overall costs to manage the delivery of activity targets as outlined and agreed in its national service plan for 2009. In this regard, hospital budgets across the network have been allocated in accordance with the overall budget available to the National Hospitals Office.

The profile of planned activity levels in the national service plan is designed to facilitate the cost reductions through the introduction of a number of expenditure control measures. In particular, there will be an emphasis throughout 2009 on the conversion of inpatient to day case activity, reducing the average length of stay for patients and improving the operational efficiency of outpatient departments.

With regard to Tallaght Hospital, the hospital is in discussion with the HSE in relation to its 2009 service plan. The shared objective is to ensure the highest quantum of service is provided within available financing and to ensure the service plan is delivered without impacting on front-line services. This approach is being replicated across each hospital network.