Le: An tAire Sláinte; Stephen Donnelly
Foilsithe
An t-eolas is déanaí
Teanga: Níl leagan Gaeilge den mhír seo ar fáil.
Check against delivery
Good afternoon everyone.
I’m joined this afternoon by:
Today is a really significant day for our Health Services.
The investment in Budget 2023 – of €23.4 billion - is the highest funding to the health service in the history of the state.
This is the third-year in a row of record investment. It will facilitate better access to affordable, high-quality healthcare for people at a time when the cost-of-living crisis is impacting on everyone.
There are many important new initiatives across a range of important health issues that impact all of us.
Ministers Butler, Feighan and Rabbitte will take you through their own areas.
I want to highlight one of the most important changes to healthcare in Ireland – 430,000 more people will be eligible for free GP care. Adding children aged 6 & 7 later this year, and we’re looking at half a million more people with access.
This is a gamechanger for patients. It ensures more people can afford to visit their GP, removing the burden on people who may defer GP visits because they simply cannot afford it.
I am also delighted to announce that all inpatient public hospital charges will be abolished from April 2023. This amounts to a saving of up to €800 per person per year and will be of particular benefit to people whose are in hospital more frequently and do not hold a medical card. I am delighted that the additional burden these charges represent is being removed.
This month we removed that financial burden from parents and guardians for under 16’s and extending this to all those who need to get treatment in a hospital means no-one will have to consider such a cost when needing necessary treatment.
Everyone needs to be able to get timely access to healthcare – for appointments with a healthcare professional, for diagnostics, and for treatment. Budget 2023 sees €443 million specifically targeted at waiting lists. We’re seeing progress and this funding will improve this further.
I am also announcing that Section 39 organisations, Nursing Homes and hospices will be eligible to receive once off additional support this winter from the once off Health sector fund of €100 million which Minister McGrath announced yesterday. This fund is being allocated by Government to provide specific winter support to organisations providing essential health services in the context of the significant challenges which they are facing currently.
Since 2020, we have delivered approximately 2,000 acute, critical care and community beds to date, with a further 400 due to come on stream before the end of 2022. Approximately 250 more beds will be delivered in 2023.
Our health workforce is continuing to grow at a record pace with the workforce expected to be 137,000 by the end of this year. Budget 2023 sees funding for a further expansion of up to 6,000 in 2023 to continue the government’s significant investment in the Irish healthcare system.
This investment will also continue the rollout of National Strategies and Services including in the areas of cancer, maternity, critical care, dementia, trauma, National Ambulance Service, cardiac, gynaecology and oral health as well as the Women’s Health Action Plan.
I am also delighted to have also secured investment in important initiatives relating to Women’s Health, expansion of the free contraception scheme and, for the first time, the provision of IVF services in the state.
Finally, I’d just like to thank Louise, John and the team in the Finance Unit in the Department of Health who have worked incredibly hard over the last few weeks to deliver this investment.
I look forward to working with my team in the department, the Minister’s of State, the HSE, and all of our dedicated and hardworking stakeholders across the health and social care services to improve access to affordable, high-quality healthcare for everyone.