Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 June 2025
936. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health the progress made on implementing a multi-year funding approach for the health service, as committed to in the Programme for Government; the measures in place to achieve this commitment; if it is her intension to announce this in Budget 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32779/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraA two-year agreement was signed by the then Ministers for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform and Health and the HSE in July 2024 to put health expenditure on a stable footing. The total package amounted to €2.68bn over 2024 and 2025.
The Programme for Government commits that having “reviewed the recent two-year agreement, we will develop a multi-annual funding approach for our health service, which will be linked to productivity, staff levels and the delivery of services for patients.” The introduction of multi-annual budgeting is a key priority for me and for Government as set out in the Programme for Government.
There are significant expected benefits of a Multi-Annual Budgeting model including;
1. Greater funding certainty to support long-term planning of new initiatives;
2. Heightened focus on strategic and sustainable investment in health services; and
3. Improved financial discipline and better governance, with local management held accountable for performance against realistic local budget.
In response to your question, the Departments’ of Health and Public Expenditure Infrastructure Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (DPER), are proactively progressing work to deliver the Programme for Government commitment. This involves reviewing the operation of the current agreement, how it informs a future agreement, and a macro-economic exercise to identify what could constitute a reasonable growth rate for health expenditure over 2026 and potentially 2027
The ongoing work also involves an assessment of:
(i) the quality of health expenditure baselining and forecasting across key spending lines over the agreement; and
(ii) the extent of achievement of the targeted improvements in expenditure reporting.
My Department is working with stakeholders from DPER and the Department of Finance (DFIN) on the macro-economic exercise. The key inputs include assumptions regarding:
- Population growth
- The structure of the ageing population
- Economic factors such as inflation (particularly medical and pay inflation)
- The introduction of new drugs and medicines
- Emerging technologies and techniques
- Overall economic growth in an increasingly uncertain global environment.
In parallel, my Department is also working with the HSE on a more detailed estimate using past expenditure trends and data by service care group to project future expenditure patterns.
While I cannot of course predict or confirm the outcome of the budget negotiations we will be engaging, as do all Government Departments, with DPER on the health allocation based on an objective analysis and forecasting of future demands. At the same time, I recognise the critical economy wide challenges that need to be met over the coming years.
A two-year agreement was signed by the then Ministers for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform and Health and the HSE in July 2024 to put health expenditure on a stable footing. The total package amounted to €2.68bn over 2024 and 2025.
