€130m in health cuts, but no sign of Reilly

Health Minister James Reilly was nowhere to be seen as another raft of cuts to health services were confirmed by the HSE.

As the HSE outlined the €130m in cutbacks that will hit agency workers and overtime, home help hours, homecare packages, and medical card entitlements, opposition parties accused Dr Reilly of misleading the Dáil and the public. Among the measures announced by the HSE to tackle the deficit of €259m are:

* 50% cuts to agency staff and 10% cut to overtime — saving €35m;