Mr. Stephen Mulvany:

Typically, the increase is well correlated with the total budget and the total creditors. As the total budget goes up, particular as it did in Covid, where it accelerated rapidly and necessarily so, there was also a significant move to make payments through non-pay. In other words, many more suppliers were engaged. The HSE has been very clear that it has no desire to hold more cash than it needs, as long as we have enough cash to meet our liabilities. Those ten to 13 day cash figures, the €600 million and €800 million, they are at the end of the year, literally for one or two banking days. For the rest of year, as I said, we average about three and a half days, which is just under €200 million. That is the figure agreed with the Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

It is of no benefit to the HSE. We do not earn interest on it, nor do we pay negative interest, which is very important.