Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 12 June 2014

Public Accounts Committee

2012 Annual Report and Appropriation Accounts of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Vote 38 - Health
Vote 39 - Health Service Executive
Chapter 21 - Budget Management in Health Service Executive
Chapter 22 - Eligibility for Medical Cards

12:40 pm

Mr. Tony O'Brien:

A projection based on cash burn assumes that nothing changes. During the initial period, we were having what we regarded as insufficient delivery on Haddington Road and some other measures, and, consequently, we have a number of measures in place designed to ensure that cash-burn rate does not continue. While a straight line projection might get the committee to a place similar to the one that Dr. McLoughlin described, I would not want it to think that is our estimate of where we will land. We are still working on that. There are a number of variables. Significant efforts are being made to reduce the cash burn and, therefore, to reduce the likely outturn position, but we are not yet in a position to name the number.