Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

If I heard him correctly, the Minister gave a figure of €116 million for the period to the end of April. Does he have a figure for the period to the end of June? This would be the overspend to the end of quarter 1. If he does not have that figure, perhaps the Minister will indicate when he will have it. Has the Minister requested a projection to the end of the year? Given the enormous overruns during the past years and in light of the fact that we are overspending again - by more than €100 million for the first four months of the year - it would seem prudent to request a forecast for the potential overrun. There is no contingency in the budget, which seems to be a mistake in the context of allocating resources for healthcare.

At budget time, the Minister announced a 10% increase in the assessment threshold with regard to means-tested GP visit cards. This was in line with the Sláintecare proposal. At the time, neither he nor his officials were not able to cost this. Will the Minister indicate if this cost is included? Is the increase happening? If it is, when will it come into place? Does the Minister have a sense of how much it will cost?

I shall recap. Does the Minister have the figure to the end of June? Does he Minister believe that it is sensible to not having a contingency in the budget? Is the 10% increase in the assessment threshold for GP visit cards going to happen? Does the Minister believe that he will be able to drive the costs back down to be in budget for the full year or is he anticipating coming back to the House with a Supplementary Estimate?

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