Mr. David Moloney:

I have not seen that letter. It may have been passed to the Minister but, to the best of my knowledge, I have not seen it. It is important to point out that the Irish health service is one of the best-funded health services in Europe on any measure that might be used. We measure health funding on a euro per capitabasis and as a share of Government spending, reflecting the priority the Government gives it. The health service has had an extra €7.4 billion since 2019 and 22,000 additional staff have been appointed. We have made provision in 2024 for a further €806 million, plus €1 billion in non-core funding. That €1 billion in non-core provision is to deal, in particular, with issues that have been identified by the health sector. The position in 2023, as the sector sees it, has been impacted by a number of factors, among which was a non-anticipated impact of the pandemic in the form of a kind of pent-up demand in certain areas of acute services.