Increased funding alone will not resolve the health services’ difficulties, Minister for Health Simon Harris has said.

“There must also be a focus on building a more effective health and social care service,” he said.

“Our experience during the boom years of the Celtic Tiger, when satisfactory returns did not always accrue from considerable increases in health spending, is a stark testament to that.”

Speaking during a debate on the health estimates, Mr Harris said the Government was asking the Oireachtas to allocate a further €500 million in exchequer funding for the health sector this year. This brought the gross current health allocation to €13.695 billion, he added.

Mr Harris said this was equivalent to an increase of €1.4 billion compared with the original 2015 allocation of €12.295 billion, and €736 million more than the final revised figure for last year.

Achievable targets

It was a 6 per cent increase on the final revised budget for last year and 11 per cent on the original voted budget, he added.

“This very welcome additional funding will stabilise the health sector financially and allow the HSE to set realistic and achievable targets for service areas, while still requiring it and service providers to demonstrate effective management control,” he added.

“It is an indication of the Government’s commitment to reinvestment in the health service.”

Mr Harris said enhancing primary care and integration of care between primary and secondary were priorities for the Government. Significant progress had already been made, he added.

GP care without fees had been successfully introduced for children under six years and all people aged 70 years and over, he said.

“This has resulted in approximately 800,000 people now being eligible for GP care without fees, without having to undergo a means test,” he added.

Fianna Fáil spokesman Billy Kelleher said the budgeting system in the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive had been chaotic over the past five years.

“The only people who thought the health budgets proposed were believable were ministers of the day and those who worked closely with them when they were presenting those budgets to the House. I suggest they were in denial,” he added.

Mr Kelleher said there should be an honest debate about the type of health service people wanted, how much they were willing to pay for it and the type of service sought.

“People waltz around this place on a regular basis promising the creation of a fresh health-care system,” he added. “We could have a system that is free at the point of use, but there would be costs somewhere else.”

Challenging position

Sinn Féin spokeswoman Louise O’Reilly said that despite the marketing language used, there were serious problems for the health services, not only this year but for the years ahead.

“The position for acute hospital groups into the future is particularly challenging. The plans for hospital trusts in the programme for government raise serious concerns,” she said.