Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Straight away, the abdication of responsibility continues, because the Minister is saying his Department will work closely with the HSE. The bottom line is that it is the Minister who will present the Estimates and who is charged with seeking enough funding for the HSE national service plan that will be published in early 2016. The bottom line, to date, is that the Minister has said one of his overarching goals was to achieve a realistic budget for the health services. There is a €600 million hole in the budget for this year. That is hardly realistic. That is a massive deficit by any stretch of the imagination. It was foretold this time last year when everybody effectively said the Minister did not have enough money to run the health services in 2015. Form would indicate that what he has been allocated this year for next year simply is not a credible starting point. Therefore, he will have huge difficulties this time next year in trying to ensure he has enough money to maintain basic health services, bearing in mind the huge pressures on the health service at the moment.

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