Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party)
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90. To ask the Minister for Health given the implementation in 2016 of provisions under the Fiscal treaty which prevent supplementary budgets, his view on whether the budget allocation for 2016 will fully meet the needs of his Department. [36592/15]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The gross current estimate for the Department of Health for 2016 is €13.175 billion, an increase of €880 million on the published revised estimate for 2015. In addition, potential savings of €125m will be available to reinvest in maintaining and improving health services. The level of health services to be provided within the available funding will be set out in the HSE’s 2016 National Service Plan which is currently being prepared by the Executive.

While I welcome the increase in funding for the health services in 2016, I do not underestimate the challenges involved in the delivery of a safe efficient health service against a backdrop of growing needs. It is essential that we continue to focus on cost containment, productivity and efficiencies as there continues to be major cost pressures on the health service including an increased and ageing population, an increase in chronic conditions, and new and expensive medicines and treatments.

The need for ongoing strengthened accountability and good governance within the HSE remains of critical importance in 2016. The HSE has an Accountability Framework which makes explicit the responsibilities of all managers to deliver on the performance targets set out in each year's Service Plan. Where areas of underperformance are identified, the matter is escalated according to an Escalation and Intervention process. The HSE’s 2016 National Service Plan will detail how the Executive intends to develop and build on the Accountability Framework in 2016 to further enhance and strengthen accountability arrangements next year.

New EU fiscal rules limit the amount of Government expenditure in any year. Therefore any overruns needs to be funded by new revenue measures, or reducing spending elsewhere. This is likely to mean, in practice, reduced scope to allocate additional money to Government Departments by way of a Supplementary Estimate at year end. Accordingly, the planning and management of health expenditure will be subject to particular attention in finalising the 2016 National Service Plan.