Results 2,681-2,700 of 9,106 for speaker:Jim O'Callaghan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Budget 2024 Expenditure Ceiling and Resource Allocation for the Department of Health and HSE: Discussion (14 Nov 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: Was Mr. Dormer aware that the Minister had flagged his strong concerns on expenditure management at that stage?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Budget 2024 Expenditure Ceiling and Resource Allocation for the Department of Health and HSE: Discussion (14 Nov 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: Would Mr. Dormer or the other officials from the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform on the health budget oversight group apprise the Minister that the reason for this increase in expenditure is because of factors such as pressures in acute hospitals and inflationary pressures? I presume the Department would have that information from attending the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Budget 2024 Expenditure Ceiling and Resource Allocation for the Department of Health and HSE: Discussion (14 Nov 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank Mr. Dormer. I will go back to Mr. Moloney. We know the budget for 2024 is €22.5 billion.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Budget 2024 Expenditure Ceiling and Resource Allocation for the Department of Health and HSE: Discussion (14 Nov 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: The budget for 2023 was €21.3 billion. Is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Budget 2024 Expenditure Ceiling and Resource Allocation for the Department of Health and HSE: Discussion (14 Nov 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: We know there is going to have to be a supplementary budget. I am aware that we cannot identify the full amount of it as yet but it appears it will be somewhere in the region of €1.3 to €1.5 billion. When we take into account the money that will be put in by way of the supplementary budget, it looks like the budget for next year is going to be less than what we are spending...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Budget 2024 Expenditure Ceiling and Resource Allocation for the Department of Health and HSE: Discussion (14 Nov 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: Is this because the Department is taking into account the €1 billion in the non-core funding for 2024?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Budget 2024 Expenditure Ceiling and Resource Allocation for the Department of Health and HSE: Discussion (14 Nov 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: Okay, so it takes account of that €1 billion.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Budget 2024 Expenditure Ceiling and Resource Allocation for the Department of Health and HSE: Discussion (14 Nov 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: Then I would have thought that it is very clearly the case the expenditure assigned for 2024 will be less than what is in fact spent in 2023.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Budget 2024 Expenditure Ceiling and Resource Allocation for the Department of Health and HSE: Discussion (14 Nov 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: What does Mr. Moloney believe will be the total spend in 2023 for core and non-core?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Budget 2024 Expenditure Ceiling and Resource Allocation for the Department of Health and HSE: Discussion (14 Nov 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: Let us assume it is €1.3 billion. What would this bring it up to?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Budget 2024 Expenditure Ceiling and Resource Allocation for the Department of Health and HSE: Discussion (14 Nov 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: And we have €22.5 billion allocated for 2024.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Budget 2024 Expenditure Ceiling and Resource Allocation for the Department of Health and HSE: Discussion (14 Nov 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: If we look at the reason for the supplementary budget, are Mr. Moloney aware, or is Mr. Dormer aware, from his membership of the health budget oversight group, what percentage or proportion of that is a result of the greater costs coming in the acute hospitals sector?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Budget 2024 Expenditure Ceiling and Resource Allocation for the Department of Health and HSE: Discussion (14 Nov 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: Mr. Moloney mentioned the State Claims Agency, pensions and the acute hospital sector, but we will have them again in 2024. There is no reason they would evaporate from the budget bottom line.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Budget 2024 Expenditure Ceiling and Resource Allocation for the Department of Health and HSE: Discussion (14 Nov 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: So it is likely that we are going to have these again next year. The State Claims Agency provision will not go down.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Budget 2024 Expenditure Ceiling and Resource Allocation for the Department of Health and HSE: Discussion (14 Nov 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: Will the pensions figure go down?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Budget 2024 Expenditure Ceiling and Resource Allocation for the Department of Health and HSE: Discussion (14 Nov 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: Will expenditure in acute hospitals go down?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Budget 2024 Expenditure Ceiling and Resource Allocation for the Department of Health and HSE: Discussion (14 Nov 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: Has the Minister been apprised of these obvious recurring costs that will continue to be present under the health budget?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Budget 2024 Expenditure Ceiling and Resource Allocation for the Department of Health and HSE: Discussion (14 Nov 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: Would Mr. Moloney agree that the likelihood is that if we are all lucky enough to be physically and politically alive this time next year, we will be talking again about a supplementary budget for health?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Budget 2024 Expenditure Ceiling and Resource Allocation for the Department of Health and HSE: Discussion (14 Nov 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: Would it not be better politically if there was an acceptance and a realisation that the cost of the health service, specifically for next year, is going to be greater than what has been allocated by the Government in the budget?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Budget 2024 Expenditure Ceiling and Resource Allocation for the Department of Health and HSE: Discussion (14 Nov 2023)

Jim O'Callaghan: Thanks very much.