Increased spending on international protection accommodation services, disability services and Tusla were the main factors behind a €195 million overspend at the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in the first half of the year, the Department of Public Expenditure said on Thursday.
Spending at Minister Roderic O’Gorman’s department was 5.4 per cent ahead of profile in the first half of the year, according to the Government’s newly-published midyear expenditure report.
The largest overspend by any department was at the Department of Health which spent €11.7 billion in the first half, more than €1 billion or 9.7 per cent higher than expected.
“The majority of this overspend is in relation to the acute hospital area, with some other pay and non-pay pressures also emerging in the first half of the year,” officials from the Department of Public Expenditure said in the report, which underlined the Government’s commitment to making an additional €1.5 billion available to support the health service in 2024.
“This takes into account the need for better quality healthcare, the complexity of providing health services, particularly in the acute sector, and the legacy impact of a post-pandemic and heightened inflationary environment,” according to the report.
In a statement Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe said an additional €1.2 billion will be allocated to the health service in 2025.
He said the Department of Health and the HSE have agreed the funding provides an “opportunity” to strengthen financial planning across the health service, “recognising the importance of demonstrating a clear link between the significant level of public funding being made available and how this translates into the delivery of improved healthcare outputs and better health outcomes”.
Meanwhile, the Government spent €743 million on social protection in the first six months of the year, reflecting changes to core social welfare payments in Budget 2024. This represented a 6.1 per cent increase on the same period last year but it was in line with expectations.
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