Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister says he was made aware of the extent of this overrun on 19 November. We are led to believe that the board discussed seismic overruns in June and that in September the Secretary General of the Department of Health was present when a figure of €391 million was relayed to the committee. The Minister's representative on the board did not remind the chairman to contact the line Minister, as was his duty. The Minister and ourselves were in the throes of budget preparations. He was well aware of the overrun in respect of current expenditure in the Department of Health, so much so that he was looking at a supplementary budget to the tune of €600 million. Obviously the Minister deals directly with Department of Health officials, officials of his own Department, and the Minister for Health in respect of budget preparations. When it became apparent that there was such an overrun on the current side, did the Minister ask about the situation in respect of capital expenditure?

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