Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

So if one works back, there are another 50 days on top of that within the internal workings of the hospital. My point is that taxpayers' money is left unclaimed. The HSE works on a cash basis - a Vote basis. It strikes me that there is a fundamental, inherent problem in the billing system. With the consultant issue, some of the days are out of sync. The HSE is looking to reduce the days for its own preparation by half, from 44 days to 21 days, to prepare the documentation for the consultant. It is also looking to reduce the days for the consultant from 44 days to 30 days. This strikes me as extremely ambitious.