David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have a copy of a letter that is in the public domain and which the Minister sent to the Minister for public expenditure and reform after he had received a letter from Mr. Bernard Gloster, the head of the HSE. In it, the Minister states that the substantial majority of the additional spend by the HSE this year, and potentially next year, is and will be a direct consequence of very high inflation and an unprecedented number of patients who require care. The Minister repeated that assertion in the Dáil and before this committee.

I will come to how the Minister for public expenditure and reform was briefed. This goes to the heart of how we fund the health service. If the Department and HSE say one thing, and, I presume, provide facts for saying so, and that is refused point blank by the Department of public expenditure and reform that funds the health service, there must be a complete lack of trust involved. I have a briefing note that was prepared for the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, for a meeting that took place on 4 October at which the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, and Mr. Robert Watt, the head of the Department, were present. It states the Department of public expenditure and reform does not accept the arguments on inflation and that all other Departments are managing these pressures within their allocation.

A separate briefing note for a high-level meeting attended by the Ministers, Deputies Donohoe and Donnelly, that took place on 6 October states that the inflation figures presented by the Department and the HSE in the bid reflect a very poorly managed base. It states that every other Department is being expected to manage its inflationary pressures and the same should be expected of the Department of Health and the HSE. When the Secretary General of that Department was before the joint committee on finance, he said he did not accept the inflation figures that were presented. How is it that the Department of Health and the HSE have one figure for inflation and the Department which funds the health service simply does not accept it?