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

It is very important to be clear around the timings. The so-called black hole to which the Deputy is referring, which ultimately resulted in a supplementary budget of €645 million for the Department of Health, referred to 2018. It was a supplementary budget for last year. A discussion about additional funding for last year cannot be conflated with funding for this year and the years to come. All of the engagement we had on the supplementary budget was focused on current expenditure for last year and referred to a process that had been ongoing between myself and the Minister for Health for a number of months. With regard to the engagement within the Department of Health and between my Department and the Department of Health, the Minister, Deputy Harris, has outlined all of the work he did in trying to interrogate all of the costs and to come up with a figure he felt he could submit to me and on which we could then work. That is what happened.

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