Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In his Budget Statement of 15 October 2013 the Minister stated:

The two Government parties agreed a strategy for this budget and the Estimates. It involves reducing the tax and spending consolidation from the published €3.1 billion to €2.5 billion, targeting a general Government deficit of 4.8% for 2014 and in the process, achieving a primary balance.

The Minister did this on the basis of a flawed book of Estimates from which he read on that same date. He knew that they were false when he referred to them. The country also knew that they were false. Within 24 hours, the then Minister for Health and the chief executive of the HSE, Mr. Tony O'Brien, had disowned the budget because they felt it could not be achieved. The Minister, Deputy Brendan Howlin, forecast that medical cards probity cuts would offer savings of €113 million, but everyone knew the Estimates were wrong. The proof lies in the fact that we are now providing for the largest Supplementary Estimate in the history of the State to correct a budget that was flawed from the outset. The figure is now €1.2 billion, of which €680 million pertains to the Department of Health.

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