Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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652. To ask the Minister for Health the estimated expenditure of his Department in 2015, in tabular form; the budget for expenditure agreed at the start of the year for 2015; the extra expenditure or savings in this budget during the year to date; when and under what process this expenditure and these savings were approved; and his Department's budget for expenditure in 2016. [37264/15]

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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655. To ask the Minister for Health the allocation for his Department in 2016 which covers the Lansdowne Road agreement; and the demographic or other inflationary pressures. [37280/15]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 652 and 655 together.

The total estimated expenditure for my Department in 2015 as published in the 2015 Revised Estimates for Public Services 2015 is set out in the Table.

The Health Service Executive (Financial Matters) Act 2014 provided for the disestablishment of the Health Service Executive's Vote with effect from 31 December 2014, and the funding of the Executive by grants made payable through the Vote of the Office of the Minister for Health (Vote 38). Under these new arrangements, the approved level of net non-capital determination for the HSE in 2015 was set at €12.135 billion. This approved level of non-capital expenditure was to be supported by the collection of an expected €131 million of outstanding private patient fee income.

Negotiations are ongoing with private health insurers in relation to reaching agreement on a Memorandum of Understanding which will address this outstanding debt issue by introducing better payment terms and improved cash collection for the HSE.

The additional measures provided during the course of 2015, not covered by the 2015 Revised Estimate for Health, are as follows:

Earlier this year, agreement was reached with the IMO on a package of measures, including terms for the delivery of GP care without fees for all children under 6 years and the provision of GP care without fees to all persons aged 70 years and over. These represent the first phase in the delivery of a universal GP service. The new under-6 arrangements are effective from 1 July 2015 while the service for all persons aged 70 years and over commenced on 5 August 2015. The additional full year cost for the under-6 arrangements is €67m. There is no additional cost for persons aged 70 and over.

Whilst it is too early to be definitive on the requirement for Vote 38 in 2015, it is clear that the health sector will require a Supplementary Estimate. The HSE is pro-actively engaged in internal efforts to maximise savings and to ensure that additional measures are identified and safely implemented to mitigate any projected deficits which are within HSE direct control. My Department continues to work closely with the HSE to ensure that the greatest degree of budgetary control is exercised.

The amount of supplementary funding required is currently under discussion between my Department, the HSE and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

The total estimated expenditure for my Department in 2016 and the allocation contained therein to cover the Lansdowne Road Agreements and demographic and other inflationary pressures is set out in the 2016 Expenditure Report published on Budget Day 2016.