Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It will take some time to bring a new facility on stream, even if the funding is sanctioned in the morning. I hope, therefore, that the management of the hospital will do everything possible - structurally and in the context of the existing facilities there - to alleviate some of the pressure in the emergency department.

I welcome the Exchequer returns which, for the first time since 2007, show a surplus - some €343 million - at the end of November. Tax receipts are 11.9% higher than the same month last year and this is an indication that the economy is coming back on track. There is now more spending in the economy and, hopefully, from now on our income and expenditure will balance and we will cease borrowing for day-to-day expenditure.