Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Health if there will be demographic funding available this year; if so, the amount of money that has been budgeted to provide such funding; if so, the amount that will be provided per applicant; the expected number of people who will require demographic funding this year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6103/13]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Demographic pressures will unavoidably affect the provision of health services in 2013. The population of Ireland has grown very rapidly in recent years, and the 2011 Census confirms a continuation of this trend, though at a more moderate pace. Furthermore, the distribution of the population across age groups is also changing with numbers in the older age groups growing in absolute terms but also representing a higher proportion of the total population. At the other end of the age spectrum, Ireland has experienced high rates of fertility by EU standards for many years and this continues to be the case.

The Governments acknowledges the financial pressures caused by changing demography, and €90m has been allocated in the current year to mitigate the effect of these pressures within the health sector. This will be applied against a range of cost pressures which are detailed in Appendix 1 of the HSE's National Service Plan 2013 which is available on their website.