James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Question 81: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the reason the pre-budget outlook for 2008 estimates the day-to-day cost in 2008 of maintaining health services at 2007 levels to be only €14,133 million, when the Health Services Executive estimated the cost to be €14,707 million; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13687/08]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Question 82: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the locations where health service cutbacks are planned in 2008 in the context of the €370 million shortfall in the spending allocation provided to the Health Service Executive in Budget 2008; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13688/08]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 81 and 82 together.

The Post Budget gross provision (both current and capital expenditure) for the Health Services Executive for 2008 is € 14,931 million. When the provision for the Health (Repayments Scheme) Act is excluded the increase in 2008 is over € 1.1 billion or almost 9%. The HSE has received very substantial additional resources from the Exchequer in the three years since its establishment. The revenue funding for the health services in 2004 was €9.8 billion. The revenue (non-capital) funding provided to the HSE for service delivery in 2007 was €13 billion — an increase of €3.2 billion in three years or 10% a year.

Each year, the Government decides what level of funding should be made available to the HSE following consideration by the Minister for Finance of the expenditure proposals submitted by all Ministers across the full range of expenditure areas. In the case of health, information and views provided by the HSE are taken into account, as well as my own priorities as the Minister for Health & Children in relation to service developments.

Under the Health Act 2004, the Health Service Executive (HSE) submits to the Minister for Health each year a National Service Plan (NSP), which represents the level of services which the HSE is committed to providing given the funding which the Dáil has made available to it as part of the Estimates process. The Health Service Executive submitted its 2008 NSP to me in November 2007 following which I approved it. The plan provides for the delivery of the existing level of service which the HSE will provide in 2008. The Pre-Budget Outlook (incorporating the Pre-Budget Estimates for Public Services) provided for a net amount (both current and capital) for the HSE of €12.04 billion to fund these services.

The HSE has also submitted an Addendum to the NSP which sets out the new developments and service priorities identified and agreed by Government and which were announced in Budget 2008. The Revised Estimates Volume for Public Services 2008, which incorporates the Budget 2008 changes, provides for a gross allocation (both current and capital ) for the HSE Vote as €14.93 billion. This amount includes an estimate for Appropriations -in-Aid of €2.6 billion giving a net provision to the HSE for 2008 of €12.33 billion.