Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. I wish to pick up on the last statement made by Mr. O'Brien. The difficultly, of course, is that the HSE has cited budget savings of €113 million arising from medical card "probity" as he put it. I do not think it is consistent for him, on the one hand, to say we must wait and see what the outcome of the medical card reviews will be and, on the other, to have a stated target saving of €113 million. It is his figure, the Department's figure and the Minister's figure that has caused considerable public alarm. How did the HSE land on the figure of €113 million? The Comptroller and Auditor General referred to the HSE's research that indicated a range of possible savings through probity measures and the HSE has settled on the figure of €113 million. Will Mr. O'Brien explain in a succinct manner the logic behind the calculation?