Accident and Emergency Services.

Thursday, 2 December 2004

Questions (160)

Enda Kenny

Question:

157 Mr. Kenny asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the total expected income from accident and emergency charges for the years 2001 to 2005 inclusive; the amount collected; if there is an amount outstanding; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31952/04]

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Written answers

Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children (Ms Harney)

The information requested by the Deputy is not routinely collected by my Department. For voluntary and statutory hospitals, I wish to advise the Deputy the information requested is monitored and is the direct responsibility of the relevant health board-authority.

The health boards and the Eastern Regional Health Authority, ERHA, are funded directly by my Department. I set out in tabular form the accident and emergency income collected for each of the years 2001 to 2003, the latest full year for which information is available. This information has been obtained from the health boards and the ERHAs annual financial statements. In accordance with my Department's accounting standards for health boards-ERHA, accident and emergency income is accounted for on a cash receipts basis rather than a bills issued basis.

My Department has referred the Deputy's question to the chief executive officers of the health boards-ERHA and has requested that they respond directly to the Deputy in relation to the accident and emergency income collected by the voluntary-statutory hospitals for 2001 to 2003, the amounts outstanding in respect of bills issued but not collected and expected incomes for the years 2004 and 2005 for their board and hospitals under their aegis.

Accident and Emergency Income Collected 2001-2003.

Health Board	2001	2002	2003
	€000	€000	€000
ERHA	404	586	943
Southern Health Board	399	579	810
Western Health Board	508	609	736
Mid-Western Health Board	506	517	617
Midlands Health Board	275	365	597
South-Eastern Health Board	680	744	878
North-Eastern Health Board	601	653	787
North-Western Health Board	377	373	416
Total	3,750	4,426	5,784