Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I do not know whether the Taoiseach has chosen to ignore the problem or whether the Government is in denial about it. I am not inventing the figures; they were provided yesterday, formally and officially, and paint a picture of a problem that has been getting worse from the beginning of the year. The reason is the Minister for Health introduced a budget 12 months ago that was built on sand and was dishonest and flawed. He has allowed the problem to escalate to the current extreme position in which there was an overrun of up to €374 million at the end of September.

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