Mr. Colm Desmond:

In respect of 2019, the HSE will shortly formally submit its service plan to the Minister. That will form the basis of the HSE's view on how it will spend the allocation that has provided by the Government. In respect of 2018, we engage in regular monthly monitoring and performance support with the HSE right from the beginning of the year, as I described in my opening statement.

It stands to reason that we would monitor and take account of the evolution of the major spending areas in the HSE. That is the process we have and it would signal to us that there are areas where there are pressure points. Some of them are performance-related and some are outside our control, such as State claims and other such areas.