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

My expectation for the Department of Health is that its expenditure at this point in the year will come in on profile. The information I have available at the moment regarding how health will perform indicates that for this year it will deliver its profiled expenditure. In terms of whether any other Department has flagged an overspend risk to me, I have already referenced – it has been in the public domain already – that there is a matter in relation to Garda overtime and the cost of it which has been flagged to me, that we will have to deal with in the context of the year. As to whether any other Departments have put in requests to me regarding spending additional money, at this point in time they have not.

I wish to make one point. We cannot have our cake and eat it.

We cannot be in a situation in which Members of the Oireachtas and political parties decide that something should be paid for out of Government expenditure and out of taxation and then, when I try to implement that decision, for those Members to say that the choices I am making are wrong.