David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will be very brief. I will not be taking ten minutes, only two or three minutes. I want to get clarity on the cost overrun. I listened to what Mr. Gloster said. He said there are three elements to it. One is health inflation running at between 17% and 20%. There is the rising pay, demographics and all of those issues, and there is also the additional demand, which Mr. Gloster has said brings additional problems and costs. That makes up about a quarter of the cost overrun. Money can be saved with good governance, which is obviously Mr. Gloster's job, and that needs to be done.

The figure of €1.1 billion that Mr. Gloster referenced is on the cash side. He also said that the overall deficit could be higher. There is a responsibility on the Opposition in delivering our alternative budgets. We do not know what the figure will be. We have no idea. Could I speculate, and maybe Mr. Gloster can respond to this, that the actual deficit will be between €1.3 billion and €1.5 billion in terms of recurring expenditure that will need to be provided for in reality? Would I be accurate in saying it is in that space?