Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have to dispute that again. The budget that went through the Dáil is giving the largest ever quantity of money - €15 billion - for the public side of health. A further €6.5 billion is being provided for the private side of health. When both figures are added together, it is clear that our expenditure of €21.5 billion on health for fewer than 5 million people is one of the highest per capitarates of health expenditure in the world. If there are issues with the health sector, the quantity of money is not one of them. If Senator Conway-Walsh was as focused on the other issues and as prepared to highlight them as she is to have a go at what we are doing here to try to give some small amount of money back to the working middle, maybe she would be doing a better service to people on low to medium pay.