Results 3,061-3,080 of 35,540 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

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)

Pearse Doherty: I am quite taken aback that the CEO of the HSE wrote to the Minister about what was about to be agreed at budget and the Minister, we are told, with commentary, passed that on and that Mr. Moloney, as Secretary General of the Department, was not aware of the views of the CEO who was asked to implement this budget. The CEO made it very clear that this deficit is, in the main, recurring, that...

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)

Pearse Doherty: A spokesperson for the Minister of Health gave the following to the media in the last number of days. He said that he immediately sent Mr. Gloster’s letter with comments to the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. As Secretary General of that Department, Mr. Moloney is saying he had no knowledge of that, no sight of that letter and that 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)

Pearse Doherty: When the CEO of the HSE is telling the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform that what it is about to do by significantly underfunding health will have a significant and punitive risk to the public, and he is saying it is imperative the Government is in no doubt as to this position before it signs off on it, does Mr. Moloney not believe it should be...

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)

Pearse Doherty: He did by sending it to the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform.

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)

Pearse Doherty: Okay. We know that €708 million has been provided in ELS. What will the deficit be this year? From the information that Mr. Moloney has to hand, and we understand that may move in the coming weeks, what is his best estimate of the deficit in the HSE-Department of Health this year?

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)

Pearse Doherty: What is very shortly?

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)

Pearse Doherty: It is being suggested it is €1.5 billion. Would I be wide off the mark in suggesting that number?

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)

Pearse Doherty: It is not at that level. The HSE has said that the figure will be €1.5 billion. Does Mr. Moloney accept that?

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)

Pearse Doherty: Is it the Department’s view at this time to fully fund the deficit within the HSE this year?

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)

Pearse Doherty: Is the position within the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform to fully fund provide for the deficit in the HSE this year?

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)

Pearse Doherty: At this stage, even though the Estimates will come in next week, Mr. Moloney cannot tell the committee which oversees his Department what that number will look like and the range it will be in. Can he provide us with a figure closest to €200 million? Will it be in excess of €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)

Pearse Doherty: The HSE has said that number is €1.5 billion. There are questions as to whether the Department will underfund the deficit. Does Mr. Moloney accept the HSE has made it clear that two thirds of that is recurring and that the drivers of this are demand and inflation. Does Mr. Moloney accept that?

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)

Pearse Doherty: That is just crazy stuff. We have just dealt with the budget for next year and Mr. Moloney is saying that he has not discussed with the Minister in Health how much of the deficit this year will be recurring for next year. That is the whole problem. The whole problem is that there is about €1.5 billion of a deficit and the HSE is telling us the drivers behind this is inflation and...

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)

Pearse Doherty: I understand that the Department has its point of view but from my point of view the health services are seriously underfunded. The Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, Robert Watt, has made it clear that two-thirds of the drivers of the deficit this year are inflation and demand and that they are not going away. The CEO...

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)

Pearse Doherty: Would it be fair to say that health inflation is running at 17%?

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)

Pearse Doherty: Parts of health inflation are not at that level?

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)

Pearse Doherty: If we take out the non-pay element of it.

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)

Pearse Doherty: Bernard Gloster and Robert Watt both told the Joint Committee on Health that 17% was the figure for health inflation.

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)

Pearse Doherty: There is a deficit of €1.5 billion, or maybe it will be €1 billion. We will see when the figures are announced next week because the Department will not tell the committee that oversees it. I understand that the Cabinet may have to agree and all of that. Is the Department expecting that to just disappear? Let us say it is €1 billion; it might be less and it might be a...

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)

Pearse Doherty: Non-core means one-off. Does it not? It means it will disappear at some stage.