Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 77: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the measures in place to ensure that funding for new developments in the health services are spent on the purposes for which they have been approved; the areas in which such funding has been released; the areas in which it is withheld; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26315/09]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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As the Deputy is aware, the Government allocated an additional €113 million in the 2009 Estimates for new developments as follows:

Implementation of the Fair Deal Scheme €55m

National Cancer Control Programme€15m

Services for People with Disabilities

(which includes once off funding for Mental Health Services)€10m

Innovation Fund€21m

Immunisation€12m

In accordance with the procedures to control public finances and the Health Act 2004 which established the HSE, the Executive must receive the sanction of the Minister for Finance before it may enter into new commitments in respect of the development of services. This is provided each year after the publication of the Revised Book of Estimates and is given in accordance with strict provisions regarding the use of funds, in particular funds allocated to further enhance and develop services. Should it arise, specific prior approval of the Department of Health and Children and the Department of Finance must be sought for any proposal to spend any of this funding on any other purpose. Furthermore, to facilitate a more transparent level of accountability this funding, with the exception of the funding for the Fair Deal initiative, is accounted for in a new subhead, B.17, in the Estimates for the HSE. The funding for the Fair Deal initiative is contained within subhead B.16 which accounts for funding for long-stay residential care.

As the finalisation of the Revised Estimates Volume and its publication was delayed due to the necessity for the Government to deal with the critical situation facing the public finances, the letter of sanction was issued to the Health Service Executive on 15 June 2009. This sanction included approval to development expenditure in the areas of Cancer, Disabilities, the Innovation Fund and Immunisation, as set out above.

With regard to the Fair Deal scheme, the Deputy will be aware that the legislation to provide for the scheme was only recently passed by the Oireachtas and sanction in relation to such expenditure will issue as soon as the necessary arrangements are in place to commence the scheme.

I can confirm that development funding is subject to regular and detailed analysis by both my Department and the Department of Finance and I am satisfied that these mechanisms are more than adequate to ensure that development funding is used for the purpose for which it has been allocated.