HEALTH:THE HEALTH system will not be immune from plans by the Government to curb public spending in the second half of this year, Minister for Health Mary Harney indicated yesterday.
Ms Harney said the Government will be discussing the situation with the public finances at its Cabinet meeting next week.
She added: "Health spends about 25 per cent of all the money we spend in the country, so clearly the health system can't be immune from the overall context in which the Government finds itself in."
She stressed the economic circumstances the country is in today are very different from the circumstances that existed when the Estimates were framed last autumn.
Asked if she expected cuts across the board in every Government department she said: "I'm not going to anticipate the outcome of the Cabinet's deliberations."
She added that the amount spent on the health service is very dependent on the economic performance of the country.