Mr. Ronnie Downes:

There has been a lot of extra investment in the Department of Health and in the health system, both this year and last year, to meet the challenges of the pandemic. Deputy Ryan will be aware, for example, that in the Estimates for 2021 there was an additional allocation of approximately €4 billion to the Department of Health and the health system, bringing the overall total to €21 billion. That was to achieve a number of objectives. The first was for specific Covid-related interventions, for example, getting extra support from private hospitals and getting extra PPE.