Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Well, we had been having an ongoing conversation for quite some time. The letter from Bernard Gloster to me was not dissimilar to an ongoing conversation at official level. It is a matter of public record that there was a different view being held between the Departments of public expenditure and Health in terms of the requirements for next year. I would, then, say this was part of an ongoing conversation.