Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I do not want to go there because, in my view, it is a bum argument. Departments would not be doing their job if they were not looking for new measures to enhance services. ELS, that is, what is needed to keep things standing still, should be something we are able to calculate. The Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform and the Minister are saying that what the Department of Health needs to stand still next year is €708 million, while the CEO of the HSE and the Secretary General of the Department are saying, "No, it is not." Indeed, everybody else outside the Government is saying the same. They are saying the health service is seriously underfunded and that a crisis is going to emerge as a result, which has started, in the provision of healthcare to citizens across the State. I do not want to go into new measures because they are a completely different ball game. When it comes to the provision for keeping things the way they are, there is a difference of €1.3 billion in what has been asked for and what is being given. Has the CEO of the HSE corresponded with, been in contact with or been involved in the negotiations with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform during the period of calculating what ELS provision was required?