Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am going to talk about the health budget obviously. This year's health budget is about more services and faster access for patients, more capacity and urgent reform. The total health budget for next year is a record €25.8 billion, representing an increase of nearly €3 billion on 2024. In addition to this extra €3 billion, over €900 million of one-off funding from previous years has now been agreed as recurrent funding. New measures in this budget total €335 million.

This funding is very welcome and much needed to provide care to a growing and aging population, roll out new and improved services, reduce costs for patients, increase the speed of access for patients and reform and modernise our health service. We have funding to hire more than 3,500 more healthcare workers. Given that there are currently around 3,000 vacant funded posts in the HSE, this means that between now and the end of next year the HSE is now funded to hire an additional 6,500 healthcare workers. We have funding to open another 335 hospital beds and 615 community beds and to expand services for patients in many different and important areas. This includes cancer care, women’s healthcare, trauma services, dementia services, maternity care, palliative care, rare diseases, cardiovascular health, stroke services, neurology, organ donation, genetics and more.

In budget 2025 one big area we are focusing on is cancer care. I have allocated an additional €33 million to cancer care which will have a full-year allocation of around €46 million. This includes €10 million for cancer medications, €2 million for post-mastectomy products, nearly €2 million for bowel screening and around €16 million for the national cancer strategy, with a full-year allocation of over €22 million. Critically, as part of that, there is a full €5.5 million in recurrent funding for all of the amazing cancer support groups we have in all of our constituencies. They have really welcomed that funding.

This will be the fifth health budget in a row where we have prioritised women’s healthcare. We are investing an additional €35 million in women’s health. HRT medication will be provided free of charge from January 2025. Eligibility for free IVF will be extended to include donor-assisted IVF as well as for couples who already have one child.

I am investing €30 million in new medicines coming from targeted savings within the medicines budget. Waiting times, as we know, remain too long but important progress is being made. The average outpatient waiting time has fallen from over 13 months to just over seven months in the past three years. That is nearly a 50% reduction in average waiting times and I really want to commend our healthcare workers all over Ireland. It is an extraordinary achievement. It has taken huge effort, blood, sweat and tears, long days and weekends but to have halved the waiting time in this country in just three years is remarkable and I salute them for having done it.

We are investing €420 million in waiting lists next year, an increase on last year. This includes €230 million in funding to the NTPF and €190 million for the HSE to continue the work it is doing on reducing waiting times for patients. Critically, we are moving this funding from being one-off to recurrent. It was always very valuable and well used by our healthcare workers but it was uncertain. It is now recurrent so not only can they drive on, they can plan for years into the future which is very welcome. We are also opening six new surgical hubs which is going to make a difference.

This is the second year in a row that the number of people on trolleys is going to fall but we know that we still have a long way to go. In this budget we are staffing six new injury units around the country and funding expansions for five emergency departments. We have been working hard to increase the services pharmacies can provide. We passed new legislation and the expert group has reported on things like prescription extensions, common conditions and so on. It is going to bring in a new era of community pharmacy in our country. To that end, I am allocating €25 million for next year, with a full-year allocation of €50 million to facilitate an agreement between my Department and the Irish Pharmacy Union. Preliminary talks have been going on for some time but we are putting €50 million on the table so that my officials and the Irish Pharmacy Union can get into formal talks now about delivering what is needed in communities.

There is no doubt that we have a lot more to do to improve productivity. While we have invested and continue to invest significantly in our workforce, bed capacity and in other infrastructure, we must, as a matter of urgency, modernise how care is delivered. A lot of progress has been made over the last few years but more is required. We must have a highly productive health service. It means the maximum amount of care for patients and the best value for taxpayers.

I am allocating dedicated funding to develop advanced practice for health and social care professionals. I am progressing the role of physician assistant and funding training courses for operating theatre assistants. These are two new roles that we are bringing in. Critically, I am allocating €23 million in recurrent funding for our new e-health strategy. We are going to have the patient app at the end of this year, shared care records at the end of next year and we are now building up a big team, several hundred strong, to deliver our e-health ambitions over the coming years.

Waiting times, trolley numbers and costs for patients are falling but we have more to do. We are about half way through our journey to deliver the healthcare service our country deserves. This budget is another important step on that journey.

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