Reti Shane; Little AndrewDr SHANE RETI (Deputy Leader—National): Thank you Madam Chair. I'll put two questions together. One in the domain of older people the $385 million annual GP check that was cancelled. My question is: are the funds from that retained in the older people domain as a whole? We know the aged-care commissioner I think may have about $8 million so that talks to part of it but what happens to the rest of those funds? Do we have some sort of commitment that that whole $385 million is retained specifically for older people as it was in the original proposal?My second question is around dental mobile. The campaign promised that there would be 20 mobile dental caravans this year. They are not in the Budget; they are absent. How do we explain that? What are the consequences of that?While I'm on my feet I'll actually just deal to a few other questions. I'm interested to know if he received a letter from the Director-General of Health in December talking about cost reductions—or more specifically managing downward cost pressures"—and whether items such as reducing specialists at provincial hospitals were raised whether reducing the eligibility for aged-care residential and for disability was raised in that letter from the director-general.And the last question that I'll ask which actually covers all of the domains I was looking for is around Pharmac. I'm looking for a guarantee that children who are currently receiving unfunded cancer medicines from Pharmac and are receiving those medicines administered in the DHB system that they will continue to receive their cancer drugs administered in the DHB system; newly diagnosed children with cancer I'm looking for some reassurance that they will continue to be able to have the medicines that Pharmac will not fund at least administered in the DHB system. Thank you.Hon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Health): I'll deal with the last question first because that has been dealt with before and I've been very clear that children's cancer treatments that are currently provided will continue to be provided. Pharmac is undergoing a review that review is not complete and they have been very clear that children receiving treatments at the moment will continue to receive whatever treatments they are receiving.If I go back to the first of his four questions in that slot in relation to the money for the senior GP check advice was very clear that that was not a well-targeted or efficacious spend of taxpayer money or health money and so that particular policy was not proceeded with. We know that one of the major problems we have in our health system at the moment is inequitable access and health outcomes. So we are not going to fund more policies and programmes that just add to the inequity. We've committed to an aged-care commissioner. In terms of the additional funding provided to DHBs this year obviously they are negotiating their contracts with aged residential care so there is an expectation that more will be spent in that sector as more people take up that form of care and the DHBs pick up a large chunk of that cost. So money is continuing to go into elder care or senior care. That does not change.In relation to mobile dental clinics no we did not fund mobile dental clinics in this Budget but this is a Parliament of three years. We are the Government; we have two more Budgets to go. So I invite that member to watch this space.Finally in relation to any letter from the director-general I do not recall receiving any letter from the director-general advising on any of the matters that he referred to. I know the member is desperate to demonstrate that a draft of the letter that was provided is important; it wasn't. I didn't accept it. I sent it back. There has been no such letter as he indicated from me to the Minister of Finance. In the end it is not draft letters that matter; it is the one that is actually sent. The one that was actually sent is the one that is reflected in the Budget that we have got.Dr Shane Reti: Yep you received it. It's in your thinking.Hon ANDREW LITTLE: Well the member says "It's in the Minister's thinking." It clearly isn't because I sent it back because it is not part of my thinking. But I understand when you're Opposition and the polls that you have now you're desperate for anything. But the reality is this: when you compare this Government's funding record on health in the nearly four years it has been in Government to the nine years of the previous Government what you see of this Government is considerably more investment not only in operational spending but in capital spending as well because the reality is that we have inherited a public health system that has been so badly run down so badly served by the previous Government we've got a major catch-up job to do. I'm very pleased with the progress we are making. I wish it were faster but we are making progress and good things are happening."