Mr. Colm Desmond:

The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform makes the assessment on tax receipts and publishes his Estimate of the available fiscal space within which he frames the budget. That is not a matter on which the Department of Health and the HSE have a say. The Department of Health is, naturally, well aware of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform's Estimates but at the same time, the Department of Health approaches its framing of the demand each year for the heath service on the basis of needs identified. The overall allocation and the national position will guide, and will be guided by, how the Department for Health would approach the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.