Enda Kenny denies health service cutbacks in 2016

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has denied the health service is facing a year of potential cutbacks hours before the Government publishes the HSE’s last budget before the election — a budget which is expected to raise serious concerns about funding next year.

The Fine Gael leader repeatedly said there would be no reduction of services as he faced an onslaught of opposition criticism over the Coalition’s attempts to tackle the ongoing problem during attacks in the Dáil and at rival party media events on the eve of the plan’s publication yesterday.

The 173-page HSE document, which will be published by Health Minister Leo Varadkar this morning after weeks of delays, is expected to say cuts cannot be ruled out and that the system does not have enough money to meet demand.