Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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In the context of his experience in recent years, Mr. Coffey will be familiar with the summer economic statement, which is followed by other Estimates and the extraordinary process in the Department of Health. I refer to the situation where month by month, in the first four to six months of the year, that Department gets direct extra Supplementary Estimates because of winter crises. There is also special supplementary funding on occasions such as when the national children's hospital goes wrong. At the end of the year, notwithstanding all the major injections of cash, the Minister is then able to get another €338 million in an extraordinary Supplementary Estimate.

I understand that Mr. Coffey is constrained from commenting, but it is unbelievable that a Department can practise gaming the whole process we are overseeing. That all then goes into the base and Departments such as Education and Skills, significant for the country and its attractiveness, are losing out heavily because of that gaming. That is because they are not inclined to game the system or because they do not have the knowledge of how to game the system. I am not sure how that happens, but it means that our budgetary process is subject to significant subversion. By the way, I would be the first to be concerned if a hospital, another health facility or particular categories of patients were suffering dreadfully. If we stand back, however, and look at this situation from an overall management context, it is appalling what has been able to go on. I am not aware of any other democratic country where it would be possible to game the system in the way it is being done.

We also have this perpetual whipping up of crises. Many of the staff seem to be extremely demotivated because all they read every day about the area in which they work hard is that it has these extraordinary figures. Has IFAC had a conversation concerning how this might be possible? I would like to help the Department of Health, but two weeks ago in the Dáil everybody got the Supplementary Estimates for this year. Some €338 million went to the Department of Health. It is almost like a drug problem - mainline and more is given. It defies reason. Mr. Coffey is an economist and I am just an accountant, but I find this situation extraordinary regarding any kind of commentary on the Government.