Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I always appreciate Deputies seeking additional resources for my Department and the health service. This Government is committed to prioritising the needs of those requiring health services in determining the annual budget and it will continue to prioritise those needs. This is evidenced by the provision of an additional €977 million in this year's allocation to the Health Service Executive, HSE, in comparison with the original allocation for 2016. The provision for 2017 represents a 3.5% increase on the final projected 2016 outturn and a 9.4% increase over the 2015 outturn position. That the funding provided for health is the highest ever clearly demonstrates the Government’s commitment to investing the gains from a recovering economy in a better health service.

The additional funding secured will continue to ease the pressure on the health service to provide the optimum level of safe services for patients within the budgetary limits. There will always be a need for effective management of overall resources, particularly as health care demands continue to rise due to our growing and ageing population, the increasing incidence of chronic conditions and advances in medical technologies, drugs and treatments.

The Deputy may be better informed than I am but having checked with my officials, I am not quite sure to what she is referring with a 25% budget increase. A 25% increase in the health budget would require additional funding of €3.5 billion in a single year, as the Deputy correctly notes. Such an increase in a single year would likely lead to a breach of EU fiscal rules and would also raise questions about the capacity of the health services to plan and recruit staff in the time available so as to manage this level of increased resources effectively. We are now back in an era of reinvestment in health and the Deputy is correct that there were a number of extraordinarily difficult years for the health service. The issue cannot just be about the level of investment and we must consider what we are doing. It must be about moving services to primary care, doing more in the community, the new GP contract we are currently negotiating with GP organisations, and bed capacity. The bed capacity review is under way and that will lead to a clear figure for the capital review. Crucially, this is about recruitment and retention of staff, as we currently do not have enough nurses in the health service.

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