Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council maintains that there is weak planning in the HSE and the Department of Health to anticipate expected and unexpected events. At the end of the year, there is an expectation that, if the health service runs over budget by €700 million, it will be met and carried over into the following year in the hope that, in the following year, the budget will come in on target, but it never happens. That is down to weak planning. What can be done to strengthen planning so that we can have an accurate estimate of the cost of the health service?