Le: An tAire Sláinte; Stephen Donnelly
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Chairman, members of the Select Committee.
I welcome this opportunity to address the Select Committee on the Revised Estimates for 2022 for my department (Vote 38). I am delighted to be joined by my colleague Mary Butler, Minister of State with responsibility for Mental Health and Older People.
Budget 2021 saw an unprecedented allocation of over €4 billion in additional funding for Health. This funded COVID-19 responses, maintaining the existing level of service, but critically €1.16 billion of this funded vital capacity and reform measures. This included unprecedented numbers of additional beds, workforce expansion, home care hours and investments in national strategies.
We are all aware that 2021 was a difficult year with significant impacts from COVID and the need to deliver the Vaccination programme. This has meant that not all of these new measures could be delivered in 2021. We estimate that approximately €650 million of the €1.16 billion was spent in 2021.
However, I am pleased that, as we enter a new phase in the COVID-19 pandemic and plan to scale back our emergency COVID-19 expenditure, Government has made the full amount of funding available again in 2022, together with €319 million of additional funding for new measures. This means that there is a further expansion of over €500 million from 2021 new measures still to be delivered in 2022 bringing the total available for additional capacity and reform to over €800 million for 2022.
This will fund an expansion of our workforce of up to 10,000 staff, over 300 additional acute beds, 3 million additional home care hours and the full rollout of the Enhanced Community Care teams to move delivery of care out of Acute settings and into Communities
I have mentioned previously my three priorities as health minister:
This Revised Estimate continues the work done in delivering on all three.
The level of funding provided will enable the advancement of a number of priorities in 2022 including:
- free contraception, initially for women aged 17-25 years’ old;
- increased investment in a new approach to menopause care;
- €10 million provided to the Women’s Health Fund for targeted projects like initiatives to address period poverty;
- implementing national strategies that impact on women’s health with additional funding for maternity, obstetrics, gynaecology services and perinatal genetics as well as funding in cancer, drugs and mental health
- Cancer Strategy
- National Ambulance Service Strategic Plan
- Trauma Strategy
- Paediatric Model of Care including new children’s hospital
- Organ Donation and Transplant Services
- social care strategies, in the area of dementia and palliative care
Budget 2022 responds strongly to the Programme for Government commitment to introduce more care in the community and to make accessing services more affordable. This will reduce our dependence on the hospital centric model of care.
In addition to the strategies mentioned above, I am:
The gross provision for the Health Vote in 2021 was €22.1 billion, comprising €21.1 billion current expenditure and just over €1 billion capital expenditure.
This €21.1 billion represents the gross funding position for both the Department of Health and the HSE and includes additional funding of €1.8 billion made available for current expenditure in 2021 in response to COVID-19.
The initial 2021 capital allocation was €893 million. In response to COVID-19 an additional €155 million was assigned, bringing the total capital allocation that year above €1 billion.
The total cost of COVID-19 supports provided by Government to the Health Service in 2021 was €1.9 billion. These measures continue to be relevant in 2022 as the pandemic continues.
In framing the 2022 Budget, the Oireachtas allocated further additional Exchequer funding for the health sector - gross health funding is €22.2 billion comprising €21.1 billion in current expenditure and €1.1 billion in Capital.
This represents an increase of €51.6 million (0.24%) on the 2021 Current Expenditure budget (increase of €1.1 billion or 5.9% excluding COVID-19 expenditure) and recognises the government’s commitment to providing a health service that improves the health and wellbeing of the people of Ireland. €319 million of this is allocated to new measures when taken with over €500 million from 2021 new measures still to be delivered in 2022 bringing the total available for additional capacity and reform to over €800 million for 2022.
2022 Capital allocation is €12 million above the final 2021 figure, it represents a significant increase on pre-COVID-19 allocations and will contribute to the delivery of modern health facilities and equipment across the country, both key aspects of Sláintecare and Project Ireland 2040.
2021 was another difficult year for those working in healthcare. Our doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, and everyone across the health service have been working tirelessly throughout this pandemic. The great success of our vaccine rollout has allowed us to move back to a more normal way of living and working.
While COVID-19 has highlighted major challenges in our health services, it has also highlighted our strengths, including the resilience, professionalism, courage and innovative spirit of our healthcare workers.
Budget 2022 funds our ongoing COVID-19 response. But more than that, it is also about building capacity, hiring staff and bringing positive permanent change to our health service.
The continuing investments made in recent years will mean that through the reforms being enacted, Ireland will have a better and more resilient public healthcare service.
Thank you.