Health spending overrun concerns
Deputy Howlin questioned reports that health spending had moved significantly ahead of profile. The Minister for Finance said spending had risen sharply in one month and that he and the Health Minister were reviewing what drove the change.
Yesterday, in response to questions put to him, the Minister for Finance warned of a significant risk of health spending overruns. There are claims and reports that spending in this regard has escalated out of control. It is the third week of June and there has been a recruitment embargo in place for several weeks. The Exchequer returns in May showed that current health spending was €45 million behind profile last month. Are we honestly to believe that, in the past two weeks, such spending has suddenly gone out of control? If that is the case, can the Minister confirm it? Is it the view of the Government, in particular the Minister for Finance and for Public Expenditure and Reform and the Taoiseach, that the €16 million, which the HSE and the Department of Health agree is due to be paid following the job evaluation of 10,000 healthcare workers, would somehow break the budget?
Comment on this
That was an answer I supplied to the Oireachtas yesterday. To put the matter in context, the point that was made in my reply to the relevant parliamentary question was that, up to the end of May, health expenditure was in the region of 6% higher than a year ago, which is approximately what is budgeted for in budget 2019. In the following month, that moved up to just under 9% above the figure that obtained a year ago. As the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, and I have acknowledged, that is a significant change in a single month.
Comment on this
It is under profile, as I understand it.
Comment on this
Deputy Howlin will be aware, as much as I am, of the challenges of ensuring that health expenditure is on line for the entire year. While the performance in the early part of the year was very positive, we have to focus on what drove that change in a single month. That is what the Minister for Health and I are now doing.
In the context of the public pay issue to which the Deputy also referred, the Taoiseach has already outlined the work we are seeking to do in order to respond to this issue. However, I make the point that this is in the context of multiple claims the Government is facing from many different unions. This issue has to be considered in that context.