asked the Taoiseach what percentage of the total national expenditure is accounted for by expenditure on health services.

On account of the difficulty of estimating private expenditure on health it is not possible to make reliable estimates of total health expenditure. Figures are available, however, for net health expenditure by health authorities, including transfer payments to the personal sector but excluding capital expenditure. Such net health expenditure represented 2.7 per cent of total expenditure on the gross national product at current market prices in respect of the year 1963/64.