Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

First, I acknowledge that working in our hospitals, particularly hospitals that are very busy, is demanding work and our public servants who do this do great work on our behalf in demanding circumstances. I acknowledge and thank them for the contribution they make in looking after those who are sick in our country.

The agreement the Deputy is talking about is the agreement whereby we made an additional €1.5 billion available to the health service. It is the same agreement that made a separate additional €1.2 billion available to the health service. Therefore, the agreement that he is referring to made more than €2 billion of additional money available to the health service for this year and next because of the commitment of the Minister, Deputy Chambers, and I, given that both of us had to make the decision in the summer economic statement to put additional funding in place for the health service. That is the agreement the Deputy is referring to. We are in a place where there has been an additional allocation of over €2 billion to our health service yet the Deputy is trying to make the case to me that it is an embargo.