Health boards which have been threatened with abolition under the Government's health service reform programme are to survive for another year at least, it has emerged.
This follows the decision by the Department of Health to grant all health boards full budgets for next year.
The biggest allocations go to the Eastern Regional Health Authority, which gets €3.3 billion, and the Southern Health Board which receives an allocation of over €1 billion for 2004.
The other health board budgets are:
Western Health Board €780 million
South-Eastern Health Board €708.5 million
North-Eastern Health Board €548.8 million
Mid-Western Health Board €583 million
North-Western Health Board €495.6 million
Midland Health Board €418.7 million.
Some boards have got bigger increases than others. The lowest percentage increase went to the Western Health Board. Its budget is up 11.33 per cent on last year's original allocation, while the North-Western Health Board gets a 14.94 per cent increase in its budget.
Much of the increases will go on benchmarking.
The boards have been warned that any deficit they chalked up in 2003 will be a first charge on their 2004 allocations. At the end of September they had collectively overspent by €40 million.
Department officials warned them next year would be a difficult one financially, with significant savings required. Some chief executives were told that current hospital activity levels may have to be reduced in 2004.
However, in letters sent to the boards in the past week outlining their budgetary allocations for the coming year, they were warned that acute hospital beds and cancer services should be protected from any cutbacks.
The boards will meet in the coming weeks to discuss the funding they have been given. They will have to work out plans to manage within the financial constraints in which they find themselves as no extra funding will be provided.
Last year the North-Eastern Health Board voted to reject its service plan for the year on the ground that it had been drawn up on an inadequate budgetary allocation from the Department. The board's cries were met with a stiff rebuke from the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, who summoned its CEO to his office and directed him to implement the service plan.