Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

If the Deputy searches for "HSPA" or "health service performance assessment tool", he will get it. There is a lot of information there. The short version of it is, looking at western Europe, which really is our comparative group, in some areas, we are around average but getting better, we are below average in some areas, and we are doing really well in some areas. In areas like women's healthcare, palliative care and cancer care, we are getting better and doing so quite quickly. There are other areas that need investment. We really tried to highlight and push those areas in the budget this year. Cardiovascular disease is a big one. It is one of the major killers in Ireland. That was the case 100 years ago and it still is the case today. We have provided funding for the stroke strategy, the Irish Heart Foundation and a new cardiovascular strategy, which will come out of the report by Professor Philip Nolan. Deputy Lahart has championed, with me, action on lung fibrosis, which is another area where we need investment and where there has not been that investment. We are now investing in those areas.

In terms of the cost base, when comparing Ireland with western Europe, one factor is that our wages are high. I could be wrong on this but I think the new consultant contract offers the highest public sector consultant pay anywhere in Europe. There might be a country where it is higher but I am not sure there is. Our healthcare wages compared with some other European countries are in the middle and higher.