Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I know that. I am answering the question. The current deficit was €642 million to the end of June. That is the publicly available figure at the moment.

I can tell Deputy Shortall what actions are being taken to address the HSE deficit. An initial minimum target reduction of 10% on agency costs has been brought in, with effect from August, across both the acute and community settings. There is a pause in the growth of management and administrative grades. A target has been set of reducing management consultancy costs by 30% by the end of 2023. Covid acute and community expenditure has reduced, from a high of €1.116 billion in 2021 to €701 million in 2022, with the 2023 equivalent forecast to be below €300 million.

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