The North Eastern Health Board is to continue discussions with the Department of Health and Children about funding for the region's 2002 service plan, which went €3.883 million over budget in the first quarter of the year.
The health board's finance officer, Mr Seoirse Ó hAodha, told the members yesterday that the main factors driving up costs in the first three months included asylum-seekers, nursing home subventions and demand on services in the region's five acute hospitals.
Non-nationals including asylum-seekers total 3,300, of whom 1,384 are living in Louth. The special Mosney village centre in Meath accommodates 560 and a further 160 live elsewhere in Meath.
Mr Ó hAodha said higher maternity costs at Our Lady of Lourdes hospital, Drogheda, was one of the financial consequences of providing health services to this group. Each of 123 births to non-nationals at the unit had cost the board about €3,000.
Cavan-Monaghan TD Mr Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (SF), who opposed adopting the service plan on the grounds that it was too limited, said the Department must provide extra funds to cover the extra costs.
Mr Brian Fitzgerald criticised the Department for not recognising major demographic changes in Co Meath which would not be confirmed until the new census figures showed the extent of the population explosion there. The health board had to provide services for this increased population with funding based on out-of-date statistics.
The pressure placed on the board's funds by extra demand for the nursing home subvention was also blamed by Mr Ó hAodha for the overspending. In the first quarter of 2002, 20 per cent more people received the subvention in Co Louth and 45 per cent more in Cavan-Monaghan.
The region's acute hospitals also suffered outbreaks of the winter vomiting illness, which increased cost pressures. Mr Ó hAodha added that medical and nursing pay accounted for part of the excess spending.