I want to ask the Minister for Health about the National Orthopaedic Hospital, which is located in my constituency, but based on the number of parliamentary questions, one can see it is used by constituents right across the country. In recent months, the hospital has been informing constituents that their waiting time for orthopaedic surgeries has increased because of a change in funding to the hospital. As a member of the Committee of Public Accounts, I know the end of insourcing by the Minister was a positive measure because it was not giving good value for money for what the taxpayer was investing in our hospitals. Can the Minister ensure that those people waiting on the waiting list will get access to the orthopaedic surgeries that they need?

The Deputy is quite right. Insourcing was a wrong use of public funds and created the wrong incentives. There has been significant investment in Cappagh hospital in recent years. Its budget has gone from €41 million to €63 million over the past five years. Staffing has increased by 130 in the same period. There is very significant investment but it is also true to say that as we build surgical hubs and other elective capacity, the State will not be using national treatment purchase fund, NTPF, funding to purchase that in the private market. It is appropriate that we wind down the NTPF budget in that way because we have invested in other elective capacity.