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\n Christina Finn<\/p>\n
MUCH OF THE attention in this week\u2019s budget was on tax cuts, childcare reform and fuel costs, with everyone rushing to budget calculators to see how much better off they will be.<\/p>\n
But it was a press conference in the bowels of Government Buildings on Wednesday morning where alarm bells were ringing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, flanked by her junior ministers, ran through what she sees as wins for her department in this year\u2019s budget, such as the expansion of free contraception.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, the elephant in the room was the\u00a0health service\u2019s financial deficit, which is forecast to hit \u20ac1 billion by the end of the year.<\/p>\n
Now when you talk about big numbers like that, it can be difficult to envision it and foresee what the knock-on effects might be for the public, but, needless to say, it\u2019s not good.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After repeated questioning, the health minister said the health service was \u20ac781 million in the red at the end of September, confirming that spending is 8.6% higher than last year.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
Pulling the spending brakes<\/p>\n
Despite being asked a few times if the \u20ac1 billion mark will be hit by the end of the year, the minister refused to go there, stating that the brakes have been pulled in some HSE regions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, she also said pay controls introduced in April and July have not been effective. The overruns have continued.<\/p>\n
The blame is very squarely being left at the feet of the HSE regions and those that are in charge of them, with the minister stating that most of the overruns are pay-related, due to unauthorised staff recruitment.<\/p>\n
She said half of the HSE\u2019s regions have already \u201ceaten into\u201d their budgets for next year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Carroll MacNeill said four of the six regions breached their pay budget by more than 2%.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not acceptable. That has to be reined in. If you\u2019ve over-recruited this year, you\u2019ve eaten into next year. This is about workforce planning. This is a test for management of the different regions that if you are given a budget by the taxpayers and patients of Ireland to recruit in strategic ways, you cannot do everything every single year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithin the first year of this regionally funded structure, we have two regions that have performed very well, one that could come to below two per cent and three others that very clearly have eaten into next year\u2019s provision,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If you don\u2019t recall how these relatively new regions work, let me remind you.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Back in 2023, it was announced<\/a> by then health minister Stephen Donnelly that the HSE was to be split into six new health regions, as one of the promised reforms as part of Sl\u00e1intecare<\/a>.<\/p>\n