Ministers were accused of using the HSE capital budget as a “slush fund for electoral gain” after it emerged Health Minister James Reilly requested the speeding up of upgrades to the local hospitals of two cabinet colleagues.

The resignation of junior health minister Róisín Shortall is the latest in a long list of high-profile figures to quit their posts in the health service since James Reilly took office in Mar 2011.

Both the Down SHC and SFC holders lost their titles at the weekend.

Opposition parties are calling on the Health Minister James Reilly to resign after former Junior Minister Roisín Shortall accused him of "stroke politics" and said he had blocked attempts to reform the health service.

Junior health minster Róisín Shortall’s resignation is the first major crack in Enda Kenny’s coalition Government’s solidarity.

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore launched a blistering attack on Fianna Fáil after the party warned it would table a motion of no confidence in Health Minister James Reilly.

For a man already named and shamed as a debtor, Health Minister James Reilly seems remarkably cavalier about squandering whatever political Coalition credit he has left.

Health Minister James Reilly is “the weakest link” in the Government, a senior Labour source has said as the Coalition row over health service cuts escalates.

The HSE is faced with an unplanned €30m bill for providing drugs not contained in its national service plan for 2012.

Labour has warned Health Minister James Reilly that his failure to get a grip on the escalating HSE overspend could put the economic recovery at risk and make December’s grim budget even worse.

Tuesday’s editorial argued that the Government’s credibility had been undermined once again.

The Taoiseach has expressed his “full confidence” in the Minister for Health James Reilly and his ability to tackle the €280m deficit in the health budget.

The HSE’s financial problems have surged to €300m, with hospitals €151m over- budget and the medical card scheme €92m in the red.

Health Minister James Reilly deliberately withheld key information about the massive HSE overspend from the Dáil, Fianna Fáil has claimed.

Fianna Fáil Leader Micheál Martin has today accused the Minister for Health of misleading the Dáil over this year's spending plans for the health service.

Details have emerged of letters sent by the outgoing head of the HSE to the Department of Health, raising concerns about HSE finances.

Opposition party Fianna Fáil is accusing Minister James Reilly of politicising health.

Tony O’Brien, who led a special unit charged with reducing hospital trolley numbers and waiting lists over the past year, is the new head of the HSE.

Fianna Fáil has said that it is disappointed that an insider has been given the top job in the HSE.

The Minister for Health Dr James Reilly has announced that Tony O'Brien will become the new Director General designate for the Health Service Executive.

The Social Protection Minister said that every member of the Cabinet has confidence in each other.

Nearly 30,000 health workers will this year receive increments and work bonuses amounting to more than €40m, figures reveal.

What a difference a year makes.

A personality clash at the heart of a key Government department has intensified after Labour junior health minister Róisín Shortall refused to express full confidence in her Fine Gael boss, James Reilly.

The Comunications Minister Pat Rabbitte says the coalition is united and no personality squabbles will be allowed get in the way.

The Minister of State for Primary Care has refused to state her full confidence in James Reilly.

A second Labour junior minister at the Department of Health has praised the work of outgoing HSE chief executive Cathal Magee.

Just one in 10 financial managers in the HSE tasked with preventing a €500m overspend this year are qualified for the role.

A leaked report prepared for the Minister for Health has revealed that only one in 10 of the HSE's financial management team is fully qualified for their role.

The outgoing head of the HSE has admitted there are tensions between himself and James Reilly, the health minister.

Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte has today rejected suggestions of a rift between the Government parties.

The outgoing HSE chief executive has admitted there "are tensions from time to time" between himself and Health Minister James Reilly.

The Taoiseach Enda Kenny will meet with the head of the HSE at Government buildings this morning.

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has made clear his displeasure with Health Minister James Reilly over the lack of communication surrounding the imminent departure of HSE boss Cathal Magee.

The Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has revealed that he only found out about the resignation of HSE chief Cathal Magee in the media yesterday.

The leaders of both Coalition parties have today spoken about the recent lack of communication following the resignation of the Health Service Executive chief Cathal Magee.

Labour Party Chief Whip Emmet Stagg believes that James Reilly knew for five days that the Chief Executive of the HSE planned to resign, but told neither the Taoiseach nor Tánaiste.

Labour's Minister for Mental Health Services Kathleen Lynch says she has a "healthy, working relationship" with the Health Minister James Reilly - and the time for egos has passed.

Labour’s anger toward Health Minister James Reilly burst into the open after the party was kept in the dark about the planned resignation of HSE chief executive Cathal Magee.

Health Minister James Reilly has denied accusations that he forced the resignation of Cathal Magee as chief executive of the HSE as part of his plans to introduce major reform of the healthcare system.

James Reilly has been accused of being a volatile health minister amid claims that the head of the HSE was forced out.

The new directors to be appointed to the HSE could remain on salaries of €160,000 or more once they are chosen from senior positions within the agency.

He says he didn’t jump, definitely wasn’t pushed, and that his departure was simply because the HSE CEO role was not part of the latest health service revolution.

As a political public relations event, yesterday’s announcement that the Health Service Executive will cease to exist in 2014 turned out to be something of a PR disaster for beleaguered Health Minister James Reilly.