Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Health system has experienced significant pressures in 2023, which in turn are having an impact on the overall expenditure position of the HSE.

Key drivers

• In 2022 our actual population had reached 5.14 million which is ahead of the population projection that the 2018 Health Service capacity review that Ireland would reach by 2026. The fastest growing population segments within this rapidly growing population are those for older people who typically have much higher requirement to access health services. These demand pressures have led to additional activity in the Health system in 2023, which is presenting mainly within the Acute Hospital system
• inflationary pressures in 2023 have impacted on a range of clinical and non-clinical inputs within non-pay expenditure, such as electricity and fuel, drugs costs, transport costs, food costs, cleaning costs, etc.
• These pressures highlight the need for ongoing structural reform of our Health system, which is a high priority for the Minister and the Government. A range of expenditure management initiatives are jointly underway between the HSE and the Department to manage the overall position and to implement savings and efficiency programmes which will mitigate risks to the Exchequer. There is a clear agreement between the HSE and the Department that our joint efforts to control costs will not impact on patient access to service or waiting times.