Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The point the Deputy is making, if I understand it, is that there is a gross figure that is several hundred million higher than what I will call the sum of €1.4 billion. Absolutely, there is. What was net off that was cash balances and underspend in some areas, including in recruitment, yes. From an Estimates perspective, what we have to do is ask for a net amount of money.

I will add one caveat, and I fully accept the Deputy's point that the gross figure is higher than the net figure. The point I made in my speech was that the majority of that gross figure is driven by about €1.2 billion extra in expenditure related to Covid and about €643 million in decisions taken after the Estimate was signed.