David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Last week, the Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform appeared before the finance committee. When he was asked whether health inflation could be as high as 17% he responded by saying, "Absolutely not." He also said, "I am not aware of what that is based on." He basically said that he had no knowledge of the rate of health inflation. How did the HSE and the Department of Health drop the ball and not make the Secretary General of the Department of public expenditure aware of the rate of health inflation for this year given that we know that part of the existing levels of service, ELS, is based on inflation? We are here talking about a shortfall next year of, possibly, €1.3 billion. Whether it is a shortfall in one-off or core funding we know there will be a shortfall and deficit. How can the Secretary General say, regarding health inflation of 17%, "Absolutely not." and "I am not aware" of the level of health inflation.