Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I respect your ruling.

Minister, as you are here in the House, I want you to acknowledge that there is work to do with the Health Department to avoid its continuous underspends. The Northern Ireland Audit Office report published on 24 May records that, in 2018-19, the underspend was £32 million; in 2019-2020, it was £69 million; in 2021-22, it was £25 million; and, in 2022-23, it was £27 million. In total, £153 million that could have been spent on health was handed back. That included £88 million of non-ring-fenced resource DEL that could have been used for the benefit of our health and social care system. We all know that that funding would have made a difference. Therefore, I urge you, Minister, to ensure efficient monitoring so that all allocated funding is utilised for the benefit of those on long waiting lists, waiting for care packages or red-flag cancer patients who have difficulty accessing prompt healthcare.

We all want a Budget that is fit for purpose, and I and my colleagues will not be found wanting in working to achieve that. Having outlined that, I also want to put it on record that funding is but one part of a complex set of problems and issues that require solutions in order to have a health and social care system that is fit for purpose. We need a comprehensive plan for the restructuring of services.

Our Health Ministers have been good at telling us what they cannot do, but they now must tell us what they can do with the 52% of the total budget that is allocated to Northern Ireland. We need to know what those priorities are. On 15 April, in the House, I asked the former Health Minister when he would bring forward his plan for restructuring the health service in Northern Ireland. He told me then — it is on record — that it would be in a couple of weeks' time. We still do not have that plan. We in the Health Committee cannot hold the Department and the Minister to account if we do not see the plan. We need to see it.

In closing, I stress that I acknowledge how difficult the Budget is for all Departments, particularly the Health Department. The Minister said yesterday in the House that health is a personal issue. It is personal to every one of us, to our families and to our communities, and we need to work together to fix a system that is essentially broken. Too many of our constituents are on waiting lists and in pain. We on this side of the House will not be found wanting in working together with the House to ensure that we fix the problem within the term of the Assembly. While this is an extremely challenging Budget, we hope that we will see better times and better funding so that we can direct it towards those most in need.