Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for their questions. On the possibility of the need for a supplementary estimate for the health service, I have not seen the precise comments of the Ministers, Deputies Harris and Donohoe, so I am not au faitwith exactly what the difference is. It will not surprise anyone in this House that it is often the case that a supplementary estimate is required for health. That was the case long before 2012. It is not a recent development. It often arises because extra costs arise during the course of the year. One of the extra costs that has very evidently arisen during the course of the year is the cost of resolving the nurses' dispute. We are not going to fund that from cutting services so there are areas where we may need to provide supplementaries later in the year. In the meantime, the Department of Health, the HSE and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform are working very hard to ensure that the HSE comes in on budget while still accepting that there may be additional costs that arise during the course of the year which will have to be funded.

As to what coming in on budget means, it is important to get this message across if I can. Coming in on budget in the health service this year means spending no more than €1 billion extra compared to last year. It means keeping the increase in spending to about 6%. A €1 billion or 6% increase more than provides for demographics. Perhaps they were not provided for adequately in the past but they are more than provided for this year and last year. The population is growing by less than 1% per year. The population is aging but not to the extent that it should require an increase of greater than 6% in any one year. The increase for this year is €1 billion. It is what people protesting on the streets demanding. It was done. We need now to try to come in on budget while allowing a degree of flexibility to provide a supplementary for additional costs that may arise during the year that we are not going to fund by cutting back services elsewhere.

Deputy Martin mentioned that up to 2012, there were never supplementaries in health. That is not true. Indeed, when the Deputy was a Minister himself one year there was a supplementary for €250 million. That was when the budget was a fraction of what it is now.

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