HEALTH:ABOUT €17 million in planned investments in services for the disabled will be deferred until next year as part of the programme of cost-savings in the health sector announced by the Government.
As part of the budget last year the Government allocated €50 million to new services for people with a disability. However, only €33 million of this funding will be spent in the current year.
In addition, €8 million of the €25 million in funding originally earmarked for the development of new community services for older people this year will be held over until 2009.
About €3 million of the €12 million allocated in the Budget for new cancer services will also not be spent until next year.
The Department of Health had also allocated €18 million for extensions of the childhood immunisation programme this year. However, €4 million of this will not be spent until next year. About half of the €12 million earmarked by the Department of Health "to support innovative service delivery projects that will deliver tangible improvements for patients" will not be spent this year.
Minister for Health Mary Harney announced on Tuesday that overall savings of €38 million in 2008 would be generated as a result of the slower-than-expected roll-out of the package of new developments provided for in the December 2007 budget.
A spokesman for Ms Harney said last night that the money would be spent on the projects concerned next year.
He said that in some cases it had not been possible to recruit personnel for the new developments within the timeframe of this year.
Ms Harney said yesterday that the new services funded in the Budget were being rolled out, although at a slower pace than originally expected. She said there had been financial issues in the Health Service Executive which had had to be addressed.
She also revealed that the legal difficulty that has delayed the introduction of the Government's new "Fair Deal" scheme for financing long term care related to how to deal with patients who had diminished mental capacity. The plan would see the State recouping some long-term care costs by taking a percentage of patients' assets after their death.
The Department of Health will save €85 million as a result of the delay in the introduction of the "Fair Deal" scheme.
Ms Harney said the legislation would be brought through the Oireachtas after the summer.
The decision not to spend the money on services for older people has been strongly criticised.
Tadhg Daly of Nursing Homes Ireland said the delay in bringing forward this scheme meant hardship for many families. Labour said it seemed to have been put further on the back burner, while Fine Gael said the delays represented "a real slap in the face for families that have held on in desperation for the past 18 months in anticipation of this legislation".