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

I thank the Deputy. The health budget is always difficult and no matter how much is allocated, there are almost always overruns. That is the reality of the health budget. We will have to work on it across government in the coming months, in co-operation with the HSE. Let us be clear that the budget allocated to health next year is the biggest ever at €22.5 billion, which is over €4,000 for every man, woman and child in the State. The resources are there to hire an additional 2,000 staff on top of the staff who are there already. The emergency department action plan is fully funded, as is the waiting list action plan. I hope that will mean an improvement in conditions for people in the mid-west. There are roughly 100 fewer people on trolleys in the State today than was the case this day last year.

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