Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are glad to be able to accommodate the Minister insofar as we can. Having said that, something has emerged over recent years that appears to allow us all to believe that it is normal for there to be an overspend in the Department of Health of €600 million or €700 million. It is, unfortunately, not very normal for the public. The public does not see that spend on the ground. I want to do my job effectively, properly and sincerely by helping and assisting those who are most vulnerable, be they children or the elderly, but there is a very large discrepancy between what the HSE believes it requires to stand still and what the Departments of Health and Public Expenditure and Reform believe. In the meantime we are overspent and current expenditure underruns are funding this. The Minister is then in the unenviable position of having to raise revenue sources elsewhere other than from taxation or borrowing, which I understand we cannot do. That makes everyone's job more difficult. Those who feel it the most are the people in the queues or those who cannot avail of home help. The package of care needed by people with Alzheimer's or dementia and their carers is not excessive but it is a long way short of €800 million. There is a frustration there. The last thing we would expect to see is this overspend becoming the norm and that no one can get a handle on the health budget. As Deputy Jonathan O'Brien has said, the Minister has the Sláintecare programme - another measure that has full support from members of all parties and none - and the Minister has to proceed along that path in parallel to this problem.