David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

You can never guarantee what inflation or costs will be. They may go down or they may go up in certain areas. Nobody has a crystal ball to predict with 100% accuracy where it will be, but we can estimate and have a fair sense of what it will be. That fair sense was set out in all the asks made by the Department in the bids that were made for budget 2024 and it was made clear by the Secretary General at the Minister's Department and the head of the HSE that there is a guarantee that much of the additional funding last year in the context of those pressures of inflation and additional demand were going to recur this year. Nobody knows to what degree they will recur, but nobody can say with hand on heart or with a straight face that it will be zero. All I am saying is there is a reality to this that is not reflected, and will not be reflected in the national service plan.

I now want to discuss the productivity and savings task force the Minister has established. On one level, it is right to ensure we shine a spotlight on how we spend money on healthcare. We all want value for money. I do not like some of what I heard from some of the Minister's Government colleagues on the narrative on health at the time of the budget. I am referring to statements that it was all a runaway train or black hole into which money was being poured, wasting it all, and so on. A lot is being said to this effect. While efficiencies are being achieved and there is more we can do in terms of performance, I will outline what really struck me. On page 6 of the briefing document the Minister sent, he mentioned the productivity and savings task force that will improve productivity, deliver savings, drive productivity, examine emerging technologies and demographics, and so on. It goes on to state the task force will be chaired by the CEO of the HSE and the Secretary General of the Department of Health. I do not know how many people said to me that we are asking two people to chair a task force to do a job they are already well paid to do. It is their job to ensure we improve productivity, drive productivity, deliver savings, examine emerging technologies and determine how best we should use them to get a bang for our buck. People were flabbergasted that we were setting up what is called a task force. As the Minister knows, people do not love task forces in the real world and ask what they are all about. We are asking two senior people whose job it is to achieve all the aims under discussion to set up a task force to do what they should be doing anyway. Can the Minister see why there is cynicism over this? Essentially, we are setting up a task force and asking the two people heading it up to please do the job they are actually well paid to do.