Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 April 2026
1123. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether counselling activity data is used to inform budget allocations or resource decisions; and if so, whether the absence of patient-level reporting has been assessed as a limitation. [29936/26]
View answerThe annual budget allocation for the Department of Health is arrived as follows:
The Department forecasts future annual expenditure by care group such as acute hospital care, mental health, primary care etc. The forecast for each particular care group is broken down into 3 distinct categories namely
- Pay Expenditure
- Non pay expenditure
- Income
Pay expenditure forecasts are based on known pay agreements, expected staffing headcount increases and other known costs pressures less any targeted pay savings
Non pay expenditure forecasts are based on projecting forward existing expenditure adjusting for expected inflation, demographic changes and non-pay savings. Different growth assumptions are made for individual care groups.
Income forecasts are made by extrapolating forward existing income by care group in line with projected non-pay growth with adjustments made for expected changes such as projected income losses due to the implementation of the Public Only Consultant Contract.
The Department of Health's budget bid is then subject to negotiation with the Department of Public Expenditure Infrastructure Public Service Reform and Digitalisation where assumptions are examined and challenged. Following these negotiations a final budget allocation is made to the Department of Health.
Once the budget is allocated it is issued to the HSE and the other health agencies. It is at this level that the HSE make operational decisions to prioritise and allocate at a lower level. They may consider multiple factors including counselling activity to inform their budget allocations or resource decisions.
