Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 5 October 2023

Public Accounts Committee

Health Service Executive: Financial Statements 2023

9:30 am

Mr. Stephen Mulvany:

We have to separate the things. The Deputy asked about savings. Yes, we make savings. We make savings when we switch to biosimilar drugs and increase penetration of generic drugs over brand drugs. We make savings - although we do not seek them - when we cannot recruit enough staff. To the extent that this cost does not become an agency cost, where we try to fill the place with agency staff or through overtime, we make savings there. We make a substantial amount of savings across the system.