The Chief Executive of the HSE has said that "supplementary" funding will be required for the health service this year "probably in the order of about €250 million".
Speaking on RTÉ's This Week programme, Bernard Gloster said that this was "substantially less" that it has been in previous years.
"I think that shows the progress of the decisions that were made by Government last year and the work the HSE has undertaken to date in either reducing costs or cost avoidance to the equivalent of about €600 million," he said.
"We have, for the first full year - and I believe the basis is there for every year now - we have balanced the pay budget.
"There are factors within the pay budget we still have to deal with, but we have balanced it and I believe that has given enormous confidence to both Minister [for Public Expenditure] Chambers and Minister [for Finance] Donohoe.
Mr Gloster said that the €250m that he referred to was essentially associated with "the non-pay side".
He said the budget would be made up of three parts - the existing level of service, critical developments that must be kept going, and the amount of productivity that can be improved on to give the best value for money to the tax payer.
He said they are in a "much stronger position" in health that in previous years and he believes that will continue.
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Separately, he said that he does not believe a decision to incorporate Children's Health Ireland into the HSE came about because trust in the body had been damaged beyond repair.
CHI is currently an independent, separate entity to the HSE that operates the three children's hospitals at Tallaght, Crumlin and Temple Street.
It will also be responsible for operating the new National Children's Hospital, which is due to open next year and will incorporate the three existing hospitals.
However, the CHI has been under significant pressure after controversies involving orthopaedic and spinal surgeries, as well as long waiting lists for children with scoliosis.
It will be incorporated into the HSE by 2027.
Mr Gloster said there is "no dispute" that there are trust issues and they are working to rebuild trust in the body, adding that there is "still some work to do".
"Trust is a very hard thing to rebuild when it is broken and fractured," he said.
Mr Gloster said he is "reasonably confident" that CHI will have "early access" to the new NCH some time in the month of November.
He said that if BAM's programme of work delivers what it says it will deliver, there will be a "substantial completion date" after that and they will hopefully see the beginning of the transfer of patients and staff.
He said it would "absolutely" be his expectation that they would see the first patients at the hospital by Spring/Summer next year.
"I am conscious, however, that ultimately what we call the substantial completion date for the building does rest with BAM," he said.
"It's not an issue of money, it's not an issue of resources on our part, it's an issue of them giving us a compliant programme of work and sticking to that compliant programme."
