Skip to main content
Normal View

Health Services Expenditure

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 November 2018

Tuesday, 6 November 2018

Questions (589)

Róisín Shortall

Question:

589. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health further to his statement at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health on 4 October 2018 on the national development plan as it relates to Sláintecare, the way in which he arrived at the €6.6 billion calculation; the breakdown of this calculation; and the projected year in which each expenditure is to be incurred. [45055/18]

View answer

Written answers

The Government has decided that the resourcing of Sláintecare is a matter for the annual estimates process.

However, the National Development Plan (NDP), published earlier this year as part of the Project Ireland 2040 policy initiative, provides €10.9 billion to invest in infrastructure, equipment and additional service capacity for the public health sector over the next 10 years in line with Sláintecare.

Health capital investments over the coming decade will support existing Government priority projects and commitments, facilitate the shift to new models of care and enable the roll-out of new additional capacity, guided by the implementation of Sláintecare.

The main capital elements of Sláintecare include:

- 2,600 additional acute hospital beds;

- 4,500 additional long and short-term beds;

- Elective only hospitals in Cork, Dublin and Galway;

- Significant investment in modern e-health and ICT infrastructure;

- Additional Primary Care facilities with greater access to diagnostics;

- Additional facilities for mental health services and for people with disabilities.

It is important to recognise that the NDP and Sláintecare are long-term plans. Many capital proposals are at an early stage and, as with all capital development proposals, will require further appraisal, planning, design and tender before a firm timeline or funding required can be established.

Health capital projects and programmes currently underway will continue and these major priority projects will require the bulk of the notified capital allocation over the initial period of the Plan, 2018-2022.

Seeking to deliver on Sláintecare and the National Development Plan, and following discussions with my colleague the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Budget 2019 provided:

- €20m additional capital funding in 2018;

- Capital funding of €667m in 2019 – an increase of €174m (35%) compared to 2018;

- €50m capital funding brought forward to 2020 and ringfenced for developing health service capacity.

Top
Share