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Government has taken measures to put brakes on outgoings following €577m deficit to the end of July
Government has taken measures to put brakes on outgoings following €577m deficit to the end of July Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill made her comments about the HSE at the Fine Gael think-in on Friday.
File photograph: Sam Boal/Collins Photos this year against a backdrop of a rapidly growing deficit in the organisation, the Minister for Health has said.
“There are 5,000 new people in the health service since this time last year. There has been extremely large recruitment. We have 3,000 people in the health system just in the first few months of this year. So there has been extraordinarily high recruitment,” she said..
It is part of the Coalition’s attempt to put the brakes on spending which has driven a deficit of €577 million to the end of July. Greens call for €2.5bn to fund solar panels in homes and for ‘targeted’ energy creditsSimon Harris says he disagrees with constituency director’s post that Trump is a ‘moron’ Asked about the projected deficit for the year, Carroll MacNeill declined to give a figure as she is not currently accepting HSE estimates.
“I don’t accept the projections because they imply continued hiring in a way that isn’t appropriate at this stage of the year,” she said. The Minister added that hiring had to be “balanced up” in the final four months of the year, “as it was not in the first four months”.
The Dún Laoghaire TD said she nonetheless had confidence in the leadership of the HSE regions, describing the spending as an “in-year challenge” which had been managed better last year.
“I have to take a sort of longer-term perspective on it,” she said. “It is necessary that we bring that pay bill back in each of those regions,” she said, adding: “That’s what the taxpayer expects. ” The Minister outlined that the HSE “does not have a mandate from Government or from the Oireachtas to overspend its budget.
" Despite the overspend, the Fine Gael TD said she still expected to have money to fund new services and service expansion next year. Also at the Fine Gael think-in, Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke said Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary should apologise for comments likening his competitors to rapists. O’Leary previously caused controversy for Burke when launching his general election campaign in 2024.
On that occasion, the airline chief said he wouldn’t employ teachers to “go out and get things done”.
“We should never trivialise sexual violence in this country,” said Burke. “I think the comments were not appropriate. Victims of sexual crimes deserve our respect, they deserve our support . .
. We’ve heard a number of agencies who do that support and work in the field really say how hurtful it has been. So I think Michael should reflect on those comments and I think he should apologise. ” Carroll MacNeill also said she didn’t favour an abundance of vape shops on high streets.
She added that while the Government favoured a “generational” smoking ban which would outlaw selling cigarettes to anyone born after a certain date, the policy needed to be further developed in order to be legally robust. Greens call for €2.5bn to fund solar panels in homes and for ‘targeted’ energy creditsFF Senator paid €16,700 in travel expenses while sick at home for eight monthsBouncy castle play linked to largest outbreak of common superbug in IrelandIrish Open at Doonbeg: What are the tee times?
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