Results 12,181-12,200 of 15,555 for speaker:Eoghan Murphy

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: These are the questions that need to be answered so that we can then have a detailed discussion on where we go from here.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Deputy for his follow-on question. The political oversight here is clear. It is not correct to state that officials knew that costs were spiralling out of control for a year before this. The issue of the costs in 2017 - the increase in costs of approximately €60 million to €62 million - is a separate issue to what we are dealing with here. We must be very clear...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: As soon as the Minister, Deputy Harris, was informed at the end of August or beginning of September that there was the potential for a significant overrun here compared with the outline figure in 2017, intensive work was done, while the gross maximum price, GMP, process was happening, to crystallise what those costs might be before the process came to an end. When that information was...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: That process began in January in the committee and it continues today; the Minister, Deputy Harris, is now appearing before the committee. PwC is carrying out a report that will get those answers. We will work with the report and those answers and will take further decisions based on what that brings us.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: It is true to say that we face many challenges in our health sector today but we have a fantastic health service. It is fantastic because of the people, doctors and nurses, up and down the country who work on it.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: The first issue the Deputy raised was that of the strike action happening at the moment. It is a very serious disruption for patients up and down the country. Tomorrow will see the second full-day strike of this week. Psychiatric nurses are also reducing their hours, and there is also an issue about GPs. We know that nurses are not taking this position lightly because we know how much...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: -----what we have learned from all of that and what we can do to try to save costs now, given what has happened in the past couple of months.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Deputy for his follow-up question. At the time in question, the GMP process was still under way, so the full facts of the matter were not established. The responsibility of the Minister when he was informed that there was going to be the potential for this significant over-run - it was only in the August-September period last year - was to establish the full facts.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: The idea was to have an interrogation of the process that was being finalised in the gross maximum price process. When he had the information, he brought it to the Minister and the relevant Department. The Taoiseach was then informed. A detailed memorandum was prepared for the Cabinet, on which we would then have had to make a serious decision. At the same time, the public was informed of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: As the Sinn Féin leader likes to say, the dogs in the street know. Ministers have been hung based on what the dogs in the street did or did not know before. We will follow due process, get the answers and act on the correct information.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: It is important to acknowledge the increase in spending that has happened in the health service in recent years. The increase in spending has happened because we place such a priority on improving the health benefits and results for people going into the health system. Of course, we have challenges in the health system - every country does - because of the types of service we are trying to...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: We recognise the important role GPs play in communities up and down the country. We are now involved in an engagement with them. People are engaging on behalf of the State to come to a conclusion as quickly as possible.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: To categorise the additional money that will be spent on the children's hospital as just disappearing without notice is completely incorrect. It is money that is going into a state-of-the-art children's hospital that will stand for more than 100 years.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: It will provide services, including emergency care and support services for families and children up and down the country.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: The spend was not known by the Minister and neither was the over-run in 2017. It is incorrect to say it was. As we address these serious issues about which people are angry – we are angry too – it is vital that we get to the actual facts of the matter.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: The issue being addressed in respect of 2017 relates to An Bord Pleanála and the additional sprinkler systems that had to be put in place. The cost was to be managed within the existing budget. That is separate from the information brought to the attention of the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, at the end of August or the beginning of September on the potential for a significant...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: Deputy Howlin asked about the GP contract. Of course, we have to get the facts of the matter. The Deputy should know as a former Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform that we cannot make up figures or pull them out of the air. We have to drill down and get to the actual numbers and then bring them to the Minister and the Cabinet. We need to get to the facts. As I said in my previous...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Deputy for the question. Of course we have challenges in health, but that is why we are spending more money in health than we ever have.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: Each year we have sought to increase the budget for health, both current and capital funding, and where additional resources have been made available, health has been prioritised. I have been part of the negotiations where we have discussed increases in budgets. The cost overrun here is €450 million above what was profiled in the initial outline in 2017. About €320 million of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Feb 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: -----and the figures that were brought to the Minister in November and then to the Cabinet for decision in December, and what exactly happened in that process. PwC will work in tandem with the Government in doing that. I say in tandem because the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, has been at the joint committee all morning answering questions on this. The Minister for Public Expenditure...