Under the watch of the Taoiseach, the Minister, Deputy Harris, has led our health service into a state of absolute crisis. In recent weeks, nurses and midwives were forced to engage in strike action because their legitimate and correct concerns in respect of the recruitment and retention crisis were ignored by the Taoiseach and his Government. GPs have protested outside Leinster House at the Government's failure to invest adequately in primary care. Hospital waiting lists have continued to grow, and last week reached new record levels, with more than 523,000 patients now waiting for an outpatient consultation and over 72,000 waiting for an inpatient procedure.

That is absolutely scandalous. The trolley crisis continues unabated. Today there are 512 patients on trolleys in hospitals throughout the State. Despite this, only half of the additional beds promised in the HSE's winter plan have been opened, which is absolute madness. Last week we learned that women who had availed of a smear test following the CervicalCheck scandal last year were waiting up to six months to get the test results. To top it all off, we have the calamity surrounding the cost overrun – I heard the Taoiseach today spinning it as a cost underestimation - on the national children's hospital project. It is going to have a serious knock-on effect in the delivery of other health projects throughout the State. For example, in Limerick the provision of a new 60-bed ward block at University Hospital Limerick is the latest project to face the axe, despite the fact that University Hospital Limerick is consistently one of the hospitals worst affected by overcrowding in the State. This is a serious blow to people across the mid-west region and, quite frankly, unforgivable.

In that regard, I acknowledge the announcement this morning by the Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health, An Teachta Harty, that he would support Sinn Féin's motion of no confidencein the Minister for Health tomorrow evening. That is significant and I am sure An Teachta Harty has not taken the decision lightly. I am sure he has arrived at the conclusion, with the rest of us, that something has to be done because we cannot tolerate the health service in this crisis. The Taoiseach's friends in Fianna Fáil who, as he says, spin yarns may well be prepared to stand aside, allow the status quo to prevail and allow an incompetent Minister to remain in office, but we will not. Deputy Micheál Martin and Fianna Fáil will have the opportunity to put up or shut up tomorrow evening in that regard.

Time is up.

Deputy McDonald might do the latter.

In the meantime, it is incumbent on the Taoiseach to make clear which specific projects are being axed as a result of the overrun on the national children's hospital project in the health service and elsewhere, including flood defences. Across the State people have a right to receive accurate information from the Taoiseach.

I actually made it clear last Tuesday in the Chamber. I appreciate that the Deputy was not here and that she was otherwise occupied, perhaps in Northern Ireland or London – I am unsure. I outlined in detail exactly which projects would be affected. In the health service there is none. Of the €100 million that has to be found within other parts of the capital budget, €24 million will come from the Department of Health. The Department of Health has a fund of €94 million for minor capital repairs, equipment and replacement. That budget has been reduced to €70 million, which is still represents an increase on the budget last year. Therefore, it does not affect any of the individual new builds or new healthcare projects. I am happy to reiterate that point today, but I do not think for one second, a Cheann Comhairle, that that will stop Deputies from all over the country from trying to claim every project is being delayed or axed, as the Deputy says.

The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, told me otherwise.

Even when they know that it is not true, it is smart cynical politics to make such a false claim. Therefore, they will make them all over the country on all sorts of project. Projects are delayed for all sorts of reason.

Why else would they be delayed?

Sometimes it is because they do not yet have planning permission from the county council.

Which projects are being delayed?

Sometimes it is because there are objections or they are being appealed to An Bord Pleanála. Sometimes there are changes in design or they go to tender. Sometimes the tenders come back higher than what was budgeted for.

In Limerick in recent years there has been considerable investment – massive investment - by the Government in the particular hospital referenced. A new state-of-the-art emergency department and a new Leben building which includes cystic fibrosis, stroke and many other facilities are in place. In fact, 17 beds were added in the past year.

It is philanthropy on the CF side.

The new 60-bed ward block has not been axed. Planning permission was secured only in October or November.

Time is up.

There is a tendering process which I understand may be complete, but it may not be.

That project will proceed to construction this year.

It is the Taoiseach himself who is spinning the yarns but he is not on his own. I understand the Minister for Health is attempting to spin a line that there is nothing to see here and that the cost overruns, or the cost underestimations, as the Taoiseach put them, were really no big deal. He seems to imagine that there is a magic money tree somewhere from which he can draw resources.

She must know it very well.

He seems to be in line-----

She can dish it out but she cannot take it.

The Members on the Fine Gael benches need to accept that any claims they may have made to fiscal prudence, to minding the house and to watching the taxpayers' purse have been well and truly blown out of the water at this stage. Can the Taoiseach guarantee that the 60-bed modular ward for Limerick will be delivered on time? Can he give us a precise timeline because the view among people in Limerick is that this project has been axed, or certainly that they will not see delivery on time.

We do not seem to do precise timelines around here very well.

I think-----

I am afraid the Ceann Comhairle might save that remark for his Fianna Fáil colleagues as well.

It applies to all.

He might look towards them also.

I do not think the Deputy heard my answer last Tuesday or my answer five or six minutes ago. I have already answered a question on Limerick. I understand this is now part of Sinn Fein's spin all over the country. I am advised that Deputy McDonald was on local radio in Wexford last week, claiming that the Enniscorthy flood relief scheme was also delayed because of the children's hospital. This, of course, not the case and the scheme is on schedule and the project has been allocated €40 million plus. I turned the sod on the new runway at Dublin Airport last week and I will turn the sod at the N4 in Sligo this week.

Turn the sod on children's hospital and turn that key.

Please.

What is happening here, and I am going to call it out again, is pure cynical spin from members of the Opposition. They are going around the country and whatever the project is and whatever the reason for the delay is, they are pinning it on the children's hospital's, even when they know it is not true. When one tries to call them out on it, they shout one down because they do not want their lies exposed.

Hear, hear.

I remind the Members again that there are thousands of citizens in their places of work or in their homes looking at the proceedings here-----

There will be disappointed with what they see.

-----and they certainly will not be impressed by the heckling and the antics on all sides of the House. I call Deputy Coppinger.