Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. He has covered several of the challenges we have. One of those is around multi-annual funding. To some extent there is multi-annual funding, in that when we put money in the health budget base, it is understood that money will stay there going forward. If we have invested in disability services, drug services, which are led by the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, mental health services, acute services or whatever else, those are seen within the budget base as permanent expansions. That is very useful. However, the voluntary organisations, as the Deputy said, do not have the same level of guarantee to allow them to offer permanent contracts in some cases.

The Deputy raised another important point which I might address in my final response. When there is an underspend, we have a slightly perverse incentive to just get the money out and spent so that it does not get taken back.

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