Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As regards the Deputy's first question, as we are currently in mid-January I am not yet in a position to tell the Deputy the net amount that will be left once the underspends in individual Departments are offset against the additional costs to which I referred. However, I expect that the net underspend will be a very small amount of the total €46.27 billion the State spent last year.

I do not currently have additional concerns relating to any individual Department. It is correct that the Department of Health in recent years has received additional support from my Department to help it meet needs relating to costs that develop throughout the year. If I did not respond to such needs, I would be criticised for not dealing with service needs that exist. However, we continue to expect all Departments to live within their means, as is the case overall in terms of the total figures available to the Government.

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