Written answers

Tuesday, 24 January 2012

9:00 pm

Photo of Michael Healy-RaeMichael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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Question 640: To ask the Minister for Health his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding health cuts. [3625/12]

Photo of James ReillyJames Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Under its reform programme the Government has committed to achieving greater efficiencies in patient care and service delivery. We are also committed to developing a universal, single-tier health service, which guarantees access to medical care based on need, not income and that continues to be our aim. It will not be easy but I am certain that, having regard to the resources that will be available to it over the coming years, the Government can deliver a more cost-effective health service. This year we will deliver two important measures with the allocation of €35m for new mental health services and the €15m necessary to provide free GP care for people on the Long Term Illness scheme, which were promised in the Programme for Government. This underlines our commitment to the reform of the Health Services

I approved the 2012 National Service Plan on 13th January. The Plan sets out a greater emphasis on maximising the level of services through innovation and more efficient use of the resources available. The reductions in funding for 2012 will pose major challenges and will require acceleration in the reform programme, which the HSE itself acknowledges. I welcome the progress made by the Health Services in doing more with less and in providing flexibilities in line with the Croke Park agreement. We need the support and co-operation from healthcare workers at all levels to minimise the impact the reduction in funding will inevitably have on those who need our care. We will be working hard with the HSE, the unions and our staff to find ways of changing how we do our business and minimising the impact on service provision as we move to models of care across all programmes that deliver services to patients and clients at the lowest level of complexity and the least possible unit cost.

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