Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise the issue of the housing budget. I welcome the announcement that in Cork city and county over €205 million has been allocated for the period 2015-17. It is very welcome that an extra 2,500 houses or apartments will be built and made available. However, I have concerns about the ability of local authorities to be able to respond to the funding. My concern arises with regard to Cork City Council which was allocated over €10 million last year for regeneration in the north-west area of Cork city but over €5 million of that allocation was not used. It is extremely important that in allocating this funding appropriate actions are taken to ensure that the funding is being spent appropriately and delivered on time. There needs to be a mechanism between the Department and the local authorities so that if local authorities are not delivering that action, will be taken. This allocation over three years is very welcome because allocation from year to year is no longer acceptable as it does not allow local authorities to undertake long-term planning. However, the checks and balances need to be in place at an early stage.

I wish to raise an issue which I have raised previously which is the cost of medical insurance for those practising medicine. There is a concern that a number of people are retiring from practice because of the cost of medical insurance. I met with the Medical Protection Society this morning on this matter which the society has been raising for more than a year. For example, the cost of insurance for an orthopaedic consultant is over €104,000 per annum. This amounts to €2,000 a week for professional indemnity insurance. The capping levels need to be looked at. If people are forced out of practising medicine in the private sector there will be more people looking for service in the public sector which does not have the staffing levels to deal with that increase in workload. I ask the Leader that this matter be brought to the attention of the Minister and that appropriate action be taken by the Government in order to assist all those involved in medical practice so that the cost of medical indemnity insurance is lowered. This needs to be done urgently.