Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We have a very ambitious target for next year of achieving several hundred million euro in savings. That will not be easily achieved. It partly involves reductions in agency expenditure. The HSE is spending well in excess of what it is funded for on agency this year. It partly involves agency and overtime costs. Part of the reduction in agency costs will be through conversion. Obviously, we spend more on an agency doctor or nurse than we do on a full-time employee. We will fully fund safe staffing in every hospital, ward and emergency department next year through agency conversion. There are workforce elements - agency and overtime - and then non-workforce elements. What can we do to move more quickly to biosimilar and generics? We will reinvest that in new medicines and therapies for patients. What can we do on procurement, the State Claims Agency and litigation? I am establishing a productivity and savings task force-----