Vol. 563 No. 1
393 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children the funding which was made available to each of the health boards in 2002 to compensate them for their expenditure on the treatment of the winter vomiting bug. [6951/03]
The revised determinations for the health boards and the Eastern Regional Health Authority for 2002 amounted to €6.809 billion, an increase of some €2 million on the original figure and an increase of some 16% over the 2001 funding. In the acute hospital service programme in particular, productivity increased, yet again, with an overall increase in discharges of 5.5% on the 2001 outturn. Within this figure day cases increased by almost 15% on 2001. While no specific moneys were provided for the treatment of the winter vomiting bug, the health boards and the Eastern Regional Health Authority were able to manage this aspect, and other such pressures, within the overall increase of funding in 2002, which was significant.
394 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children the funding which has been made available to each of the health boards to compensate them for their expenditure on services for asylum seekers and refugees. [6952/03]
The additional funding provided to the health boards and the Eastern Regional Health Authority, advised in the 2003 letters of determination, was an increase of some 9% on the 2002 original figure. The letter of determination requested the health boards and the Eastern Regional Health Authority to develop their service plan levels and supporting financial budgets within the limits of the approved funding. While the 2003 determination did not identify specific funding for asylum seekers or refugees, the various service programmes across the health care system make provision for such groups in the context of the agreed service plans for 2003.
