Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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129. To ask the Minister for Health the status of the stretch income targets set for hospitals; the amount generated in 2016 from private income by hospital; the amount budgeted for in 2017; the amounts which constitute these stretch targets; and the expected consequences if said targets are not met by the hospitals. [27660/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The level of planned expenditure in individual hospitals is a function of the level of monies allocated by the exchequer and the amount of income projected for the hospitals (including patient income, canteen receipts etc.).

The process of setting expenditure budgets is a collaborative effort between the hospital and the HSE's Finance function.

Maintenance charge income from the hospitals in 2016 amounted to €626.3m - a breakdown of income by hospital is provided in the table. For 2017, estimated income in the sector is €625.8m and the budget for 2017 has been set at this level. There is no “stretched” maintenance budget included for 2017.

Overall, the HSE is required to balance its books, so an underperformance in one financial area needs to be balanced by another, or savings found.

The approach is outlined under the Performance and Accountability Framework, where underlying performance issues are considered and actions taken to deal with them.