Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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The report does not simply single out health in medium-term budgetary plans. It gives a full graph and highlights every one that the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council believes lacks credibility. It is very clear. It states:

Aside from some allowances for demographics, and a ramp-up in public investment, departmental ceilings are largely flat for later years. This implies implausibly large and sustained decreases in non-interest spending as a share of GNI*.

It is saying that what the Minister is presenting is that the Government will spend less money than it will actually end up spending. The fiscal advisory council is saying very clearly that the Government needs to spend more money in each of these areas, and that is the reality, but that the figures projected by the Department are not credible. It is not just on health. The only reason it said that is because the Department has only dealt with demographics and inflation but there are other pressures that will be in those Departments during those years. Does the Minister not accept that?