There seems to have been a change on the Government benches this morning.

It is just over a year since I raised the PPARS project, a waste of €150 million of taxpayers' money on a dud payroll system that overpays, underpays and mispays. It does everything but what it is supposed to do. At the same time, the frontline situation in the health services is not what it should be. Today's newspapers tell a story of a suicidal teenager on a trolley for seven days, step-down beds being as scarce as hens' teeth and people running marathons and fundraisers for cancer care services.

It appears the Government's taste for waste is insatiable. Under PPARS the black hole is getting bigger. Does the Minister for Finance know that in addition to the €150 million already spent on PPARS, this year a further €18 million has been sanctioned for it? Does he know that €10 million of that money is going to the consultants who issued the report on PPARS last year? Having sanctioned this money, is the Minister confident that the Health Service Executive is capable of handling information technology projects?

The PPARS project is, as we speak, providing payments for up to 30,000 employees and dealing with the HR issues of more than 70,000 employees in the health service. It was initiated by the health boards during the tenure of the rainbow Government.

On the rolling out of the IT projects, it is clear that I have introduced value for money initiatives that have ensured that we are able to assess and process those projects in a way that is more accountable than would have been the case in this instance, although there were successes apart from this one. I make those points because it is sometimes indicated by the Opposition that the projects are achieving nothing.

On the money being spent on IT, it is clear that if we want a modern health service, we need improved IT processes to measure outcomes and to learn for future policy formulation. The suggestion that we should not have IT processes is null and void.

The question was asked whether this money could be diverted to other areas of the health service where service pressures exist. The Government is applying unprecedented resources to many of those areas and yesterday it was acknowledged by one of the trade union leaders that there has been a 40% improvement in accident and emergency services since the initiative was brought forward by the Minister for Health and Children and put in place by the HSE.

The Taoiseach says that health workers work a six hour day and take Fridays off. It is obvious that the Minister for Finance is not informed about what is happening in the IT project systems within the Health Service Executive and that someone is not telling him. Is he aware that despite a provision of €70 million for IT projects in the HSE this year, as of 27 September, not a cent apart from the PPARS project has been sanctioned by the Department of Health and Children?

While the PPARS project gets €18 million extra, we need IT projects that work. Here are three examples: a €260,000 project to boost mental health services for children in the north east — no sanction, no choice, no chance; a €122,000 project for IT dealing with orthodontics for patients, including children, in the north west — no sanction, no choice, no chance; a €166,000 IT project dealing with vascular surgery programmes in the mid-west — no sanction, no choice, no chance. Those are three small, patient-centred IT projects that have not been sanctioned ten months after the Minister for Finance gave his overall imprimatur.

After 21 months, there is still no national director for IT projects within the Health Service Executive. The HSE says it wants breathing space, after 21 months, when €168 million has been spent on PPARS, but here are three small, patient-centred IT projects that are yet to be sanctioned by the Minister for Health and Children ten months into the year. Does the Minister for Finance believe that we should operate in this way? Is he happy that sort of project, which is patient-centred, should be left to one side? When will he sort this out politically?

The leader of the Opposition is not up to date on the accountability issues regarding how health funding is spent. The money has been sanctioned to the HSE and these are matters for it.

Pontius Pilate.

I am just updating the Leader of the Opposition because if he is not up to date with procedures, people will have no choice and no chance. The Opposition is totally backward about the arrangements that are in place. The HSE deals with the sanctioning of individual projects and does not require my sanction or that of the Minister for Health and Children. We have given the global allocations.

Blame someone else.

The HSE is rightly assessing all these arrangements in relation to IT processes, some of which, as Deputies will be aware, come from the old health board system. These are being evaluated by the former CEO of the Southern Health Board, Seán Hurley, an eminent and competent health board official. Mr. Hurley has been given the responsibility of doing this on behalf of the HSE, which has taken further independent IT advice to assist it in this matter.

In relation to specific projects, these matters are evaluated by the HSE and can be dealt with by it specifically. In overall terms, the Government has increased the allocation for mental health care services by more than €25 million this year. Its record in this area far surpasses any of its predecessors.

The point to be made to the Fine Gael leader is as follows. IT processes that are necessary are being evaluated by the HSE and those done in the past will proceed. The HSE is getting the expertise necessary to ensure that is done. The global allocations which have been provided are greater than those given in the past because they are a fundamental driver of reform in the health service.