Just as a government worthy of the name must pass a budget that is credible, the health service must be able to live within its allocation
The fundamental function of government is to deliver a budget and run the state accordingly. The budget announced on October 10th is precedent-making for the wrong reasons. The Government does not share collective responsibility for it, and the civil and public service have in-part said it cannot do what it provides for with the money allocated. The Minister for Health,.
Though one member resigned, the HSE board buckled to accommodate financials which, as predicted, were fiction. That is the origin of an accrued deficit of €1.5 billion for 2023 All might have been well if the usual civilities were maintained, but they were not. Months late, the 2023 plan went unpoliced, in a system where the HSE and both departments meet regularly in the Health Budget Oversight Group. Curiously,. . That requires willingness to pull back on activity from early on in any year. There was neither the will nor capacity to do so and therein lies the shattering of credibility.
The budget story is now about health. A lot of money was spent on universal entitlement for political gain, but the political shine is gone. It leaves the Department of Public Expenditure diminished. It ruptured traditions of compliance with the pieties of budgetary compliance, if only as fiction. I have no qualms about cutting services to stay in budget, but the Government won’t dare and in the health system there is no fear.