I will have the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, confirm the position regarding the delegated statutory authority for primary care. That is a political decision for the Minister and the Minister of State.

It is a matter for the Government.

It is a political decision.

It is not a political decision. It is a definitive governmental decision to delegate authority to a Minister of State.

The Minister informs the Cabinet.

When the Taoiseach announced the members of the Cabinet and the Ministers of State, he appointed Deputy Róisín Shortall as Minister of State with specific responsibility for primary care.

There is no need for Deputy Martin to explain that.

The Taoiseach made a wrong statement. He said this is a personal decision for the Minister for Health.

The Minister notifies the Cabinet and that is the way it applies.

It is a Government decision and the Taoiseach is the Head of the Government.

Yes.

He should not try to push the decision down the line.

Neither should the Deputy try to put words in my mouth.

Why has it not happened? Deputy Kenny is the Taoiseach. The Government has been in office for 18 months.

It is a political decision. The Minister delegates a function to the Minister of State.

No. It goes before the Cabinet.

I said I will have the Minister confirm the position in the House.

The Cabinet has to agree the decision.

Yes.

It is extraordinary that a Minister of State, in writing to her Minister, says she has asked, time and time again, for delegated authority and has not been given it. The Taoiseach is the Head of the Government. He knows the responsibilities he allocated to each Minister of State when he appointed them. Now, a year and a half later, we find that one Minister of State has no delegated authority to discharge her duties and is being attacked by her Minister for failure to deal with budgetary overruns even though she has no delegated authority to deal with them.

The Deputy is making a mountain out of a molehill.

I am not making a mountain out of anything. The Minister of State, Deputy Shortall, has put this in writing to her Minister. It is in the public domain, thanks to freedom of information legislation.

The Labour Party does not really matter in all of this.

The Minister, Deputy Reilly, and the Ministers of State, Deputies Shortall and Lynch, will not renege on their responsibilities in the Department of Health as Deputy Martin did.

That is the usual old rubbish from the Taoiseach. He should have some respect.

There was report after report.

Deputy Kenny is the Taoiseach. When will the Minister of State, Deputy Shortall, be delegated statutory authority by the Government?

We are driving on.