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

The starting point is honesty and full transparency in terms of the health budget and we did not get that this year either in the preparation and lead in to the budget or in the service plan. We only got elements of it following the release of freedom of information requests to a journalist in The Irish Times. If the Taoiseach reads The Sunday Business Postthere was a very good article again last week highlighting a fundamental problem - a lack of honesty and a massive fudge going on in terms of the presentation of the budget.

It is interesting to note, for example, a project for renal services in Tallaght hospital. The tender was originally issued in December with the intention of awarding a contract in March. Now the HSE has extended the tender process until October. Why? It is so that the spending will not happen until perhaps January or February of the following year. That type of behaviour is becoming endemic because of the lack of honesty around the budget. The Taoiseach mentioned €200 million. A total of €48 million of that is for pensions - demand-led schemes. There is also increased funding for drugs.

The Taoiseach knows all of that so there is no point in trying to pretend. One of the more important admissions today is that the Taoiseach is now admitting that at the very least we will get existing levels of service. If that is all we are going to get in 2018 it will be a very rough ride for everybody working in the health service and more particularly those who avail of the health services, especially elderly people and those with dementia where there is clearly not enough provision to cover the challenges that will undoubtedly come our way in 2018.

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