Mary White (Fianna Fail)

I will put my cards on the table by acknowledging the great regard I have for Professor Drumm and the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, but I want to know the position of the board of the HSE on the re-organisation of health services. If this was a normal company, the board would be held to account for what has happened. I want to learn from the Minister why the HSE is re-prioritising its €14 billion budget and whether that money is efficiently utilised every year.

This morning Deputy O'Connor organised a meeting in Tallaght to seek the €50,000 promised to help Travellers in the area who experience suicide problems. Two years ago in this House, the former Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Tim O'Malley, spoke about suicide and, at a meeting in Tallaght, he promised this €50,000 to the Travellers' group. The bottom line for the HSE is efficiency, which will require re-prioritising the work being done on a day-to-day basis and reallocating employees to priority areas.