Taoiseach has ‘full confidence’ in Reilly

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.

Enda Kenny once again insisted there will not be a supplementary budget to deal with the massive deficit, and said the gap will be bridged with minimal impact on patient care.

He said there was “nothing new” in correspondence between the minister and the outgoing head of the HSE, Cathal Magee, who repeatedly asked for decisions to be taken to address the spiralling overspending problem.