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

I accept that the figures published yesterday do not relate solely to the HSE. However, the vast bulk of the money involved relates to the executive's budget. I do not think the Minister is suggesting that the HSE went from being €116 million over budget to the end of April to underspending by €33 million to the end of June. There is an issue here with the system of accounting. That is the point I am getting at. It seems that the HSE is not using a proper accruals-based system of accounting and that known liabilities are not being accounted for. We had the same issue last year when the Exchequer figures showed that the deficit was approximately €300 million to the end of September and yet the Supplementary Estimate came in at over €600 million. There is an accounting issue here.