Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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758. To ask the Minister for Health if hepatitis C services will be funded in budget 2015 (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41898/14]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The National Hepatitis C Strategy provides a framework for a coordinated and integrated response to Hepatitis C in Ireland. The National Hepatitis C Strategy Implementation Committee was established by the Health Service Executive to progress the recommendations of the Strategy. The recommended actions are being implemented on a phased, prioritised basis.

Many of the actions are budget neutral and are being progressed through existing governance structures and processes.

The Department has also established an advisory group to advise on an evidence-based multi-annual pharmaceutical treatment plan for patients with Hepatitis C. This group will furnish a report to the Minister for Health on this issue in the coming weeks.

In recent years, the Government decided that the numbers employed across the public service must be reduced in order to meet fiscal and budgetary targets. To that end, a moratorium on recruitment in the Public Service was introduced in March 2009.

The Deputy will be aware that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform announced in the recent Budget, that in 2015, Departments and Agencies will be given greater autonomy to manage their own staffing levels within their pay allocations. This measure will allow the HSE to hire more front line staff on fixed term contracts, thus reducing reliance on agency staff. It is anticipated that this will lead to pay savings due to the increased costs associated with hiring agency staff and will also enhance the quality of care available to patients and clients through improved continuity of care.