Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This year's outturn will be important. It will feed into next year, into the budget and so on. In the context of the Department of Health Vote, which includes the HSE, the edition of the Fiscal Monitor published yesterday shows an underspend of €33 million up to the end of June. Yet, the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, informed the Dáil yesterday that the HSE is €116 million over budget to the end of April. That is consistent with what Mr. Paul Reid said before the Committee of Public Accounts recently, when he indicated that the amount was €103 million to the end of March. Can the Minister square that for me? How is it that on the very same day the official Exchequer figures show an underspend of €33 million in health, the Minister for Health stated in the Dáil that the HSE was €116 million over budget to the end of April?