Any overrun in health service spending at the end of the year will have to be met by savings in other sectors of the public service, Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin has said.

The position in the health sector was under review and his Department was working with the Department of Health to ascertain the scale of any supplementary estimate required, Mr Howlin told the Dail.

"Savings across all profiles will be utilised so we will be within the voted spend," the Minister said.

He said revised estimates for the public sector for 2014 would be published in mid-December.

It has yet to be confirmed what the level of the supplementary allocation for health will be this year, but it may end up in the region of €300 million.

In the meantime, the HSE is drawing up a service plan for next year which is expected to provide for cuts of at least €1 billion.