Yesterday, the Committee on Budgetary Oversight was presented with a report which showed an increase of €782 million over the allocated amount for 2016 for health. If we take this €782 million overexpenditure and add it to the more than €15 billion in the annual allocation and the approximately €4 billion in private insurance, it adds up to €20 billion for a health service for 4 million to 4.5 million people. There is something radically wrong here.

Hear, hear.

We have overexpenditure of €782 million. Will the Taoiseach establish a small committee with representatives from the committees on budgetary strategy and health to report within three months on the exact reason, and I mean the exact reason, for overexpenditure of €782 million? Give the committee three months to examine in detail every single cent to find out what is going on in the health service with regard to the amount of money being spent.

Deputy Barrett has put his finger on an issue that has been around for a very long time. This matter has been considered on many occasions by the Cabinet subcommittee dealing with health. The Deputy will find endless reasons for expenditure increases. One of the issues being addressed by the Minister, Deputy Harris, with the co-operation of members of various parties, is to put in place a ten-year strategy.

It will remove a lot of the politics from health and will enable us to decide which areas of the country should be providing which services. We are building primary care centres in many places around the country and these are being designed and built for a purpose, namely, to save people from having to go to hospital in the first place and yet it is as if it never happened. This is an issue that needs to be addressed. I will give the Deputy the information I have on overexpenditure but without setting up a committee at this moment. Maybe we will return to the matter again.

I propose setting up a committee to examine why there is an overspend.