David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Labour Party for tabling this motion and giving us an opportunity to discuss this important issue. In all the discussions on budget 2023 and budget 2024, as the Minister knows, I pointed out robustly that the health service was not getting the funding it needed to stand still, that we were running significant deficits, and that at some point, a cheque would have to be written to cover that deficit. There was serious pushback, not necessarily from the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, but from the Government, from the Ministers for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform and Finance, and indeed the Taoiseach, when these issues were raised with them. In the summer of this year, €1.5 billion had to be made available to fill that big hole that was in the HSE's finances because of reckless funding of the health service for two years, but that was not without its consequences. That resulted in a recruitment embargo that was put in place in 2023.

See this speech in context