Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will read to the Minister a comment by the Fiscal Advisory Council:

For 2017, the ... fiscal space under the rules has already been allocated in budget 2017 for tax cuts and expenditure increases. As a consequence, any new increases in expenditure, such as to fund higher public sector pay, imply lower spending in other areas unless offset by compensatory tax changes.

Can the Minister give a guarantee that there will not be any impact on services delivered by any Department in this regard? I am concerned that we are now coming into the beginning of the second month of the year and that he has allocated €120 million worth of expenditure in respect of which he still does not know where it will come from.

Finally, I ask him to comment on the overnight development regarding the HSE's decision to withdraw its appeal to the Workplace Relations Commission regarding the payment of consultants and the potential this may have for a necessary increase in the Department of Health budget. Will he outline the Government's strategy for dealing with this position?

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