Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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1. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the position regarding the progress of the capital review; the discussions he has had with the Minister for Health on health capital investment priorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2486/18]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I am trying to get a sense of the timeline for the capital plan review. Has the Minister set a deadline for publishing it? I asked parliamentary questions of all of the Ministers, and I got no sense of major urgency in terms of their various priorities and negotiations with the Minister on the plan. This morning I want to focus specifically on the health element of the plan, bearing in mind the Minister for Health has said he intends to engage with the Minister on the capital plan and the Minister for Health's capacity review. What work has been done on this?

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As we have discussed on a number of occasions, the capital review was published on 14 September last year and all Members of the Oireachtas received a copy of it. To recap, the review of the plan highlighted some important themes, which will closely inform and be incorporated into the analysis leading to the finalisation of a new ten-year plan. These themes include confirmation of the role of capital investment and aligning that investment to the changing demographics in Ireland. Also included is the importance of balanced investment throughout the country. It also looks at mechanisms to strengthen our resilience to risks such as Brexit. There is also the importance of having mechanisms in place to support efficiency and value for money for public capital investment and the need to ensure we have strong business cases in place.

Based on the analysis, the review of the capital plan identified a number of important sectors for investment. These include transport, education, housing and, to address Deputy Calleary's point, health. The findings of the review assisted the Government in selecting priorities for the allocation of the additional €4.3 billion capital expenditure allocated in budget 2018 for the period to 2021. Between 2014 and 2021, capital expenditure in Ireland will have doubled. We judge and expect that by 2021 capital investment will have reached €8.4 billion, of which €780 million will be designated to health.

We have consistently prioritised investment in health, with an increase of 19% in the health capital allocation since 2016, typifying our investment in that area. The Government's investment in primary care centres is an example of this, as 63 primary care centres were opened between 2011 and autumn 2017, bringing the total to more than 100.

To answer the specific additional questions the Deputy has put to me, just before Christmas the Department received the review of the Minister, Deputy Harris, on acute capacity in the health sector and we are considering it at present. It is a key input into the ten-year plan.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister. I am trying to get a sense of the timeline. Is the Department working to a timeline for the final process and publishing the final review in terms of the major projects identified, specifically with regard to health? The HSE stated in response to parliamentary questions that the capital cost of a hospital bed is approximately €1 million. The Minister, Deputy Harris, has mentioned looking for 500 extra beds in the system this year. Has he engaged with the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, on this specific figure? It has been reported that the capacity review suggests we will need an extra 2,500 hospital beds in the system, which would have a capital cost of approximately €2.5 billion. The Minister has said there is €4.3 billion. I presume it will not all go to health but a great majority of it will do so. I am trying to get a sense of it. In response to the emergency department crisis, the Minister for Health made a number of statements and commitments. What backup and work has he done with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department to back up these statements?

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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With regard to the timeline, the key framework for all of this is the national planning framework. Public consultation on the national planning framework finished in recent weeks. An additional number of submissions were received by the Minister, Deputy Murphy, which he is now considering. When that work is done it will allow me to conclude where we are with our ten-year capital plan.

On the Deputy's question on the status of the number of beds that may be requested under the review of capacity in the health sector, the Minister, Deputy Harris, will bring that recommendation to Cabinet in the next two weeks. At that point we will be able to finalise what the recommendation will be and how it will be met.

With regard to the cost, the Minister, Deputy Harris, and I are engaging on what the cost per bed will be. There is no doubt that, like other forms of capital investment, a significant amount of funding is required to meet the type of challenge he is referring to. This is why we are looking at it on a ten-year basis. If we look at it over many years as opposed to year to year, it will give us a greater chance of being able to plan for this effectively and meet these high costs.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Has the Minister for Health made a specific request to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform for extra funding in light of the difficulties faced in our emergency departments in recent weeks and which will be faced over a number of weeks to come and in light of his statement on 500 extra hospital beds in 2018? Has a specific request been made to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform from the Department of Health on this?

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Minister for Health has submitted a view regarding the total number of beds needed in the coming period.

He has put forth his views on many costs in respect of the health service, which include beds but also deal with our position from the perspective of primary care centres and our needs - for example, how we fund a new national maternity hospital. I have an array of different health sector and other costs coming in and I am now working with many Departments to try to finalise what those costs are and assess what costs we are able to afford and deliver across the coming years.