Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Hold on. The Deputy did not allow me to interrupt him so I am going to ask for the same courtesy, though in my case I did not even speak. What we attempt to do over a number of weeks is to close the gap.

The Deputy made a point about the Supplementary Estimate. Of course I acknowledge that the funding needs and the funding challenge for the Department of Health was considerable. This has been an ongoing feature of health expenditure over a number of years. In other years, while Supplementary Estimates have been needed, we have been successful at other points at getting them down to a lower value while still meeting patient needs.

That is the challenge that awaits in 2024. It is a challenge that is harder now because of the post-pandemic demands we are facing but is one we are going to face into and do our best on.