‘Hold HSE to account over its spending’
Mr Kelleher was responding to a newspaper report that the health authority could overrun its budget by up to €500m this year.
He said it seemed extraordinary that the HSE should be warning the Department of Health at such an early stage about a spending deficit when it got an increase of about €800m for 2016.
It was reported that the HSE warned the Department of Health that the cost of delivering all of the services set out in the service plan could cause a financial deficit of between €300m and €500m.
The HSE has not published any financial data so far this year but has been considering the outturn if projected savings are not made.
Mr Kelleher said Health Minister Leo Varadkar should outline the plans his department has in the event of the overrun mentioned by the health authority.
“We also need to hear whether the €35m allocated for mental health will be provided or if it will fall victim to budgetary pressures,” he said.
The Cork North Central TD also repeated his call for greater consultation in advance of the next budget.
Last summer, HSE director general, Tony O’Brien, made a detailed financial submission to the Department of Health for the funding required to provide health services.
Mr Kelleher said the submission was never discussed in the Oireachtas before the October Budget but was leaked to the media and then rejected in a doorstep interview by the Minister for Public Service, Brendan Howlin.
He wanted the Oireachtas Health Committee to hold extensive discussions with the Department of Health and the HSE on health spending well in advance of the summer recess.
Meanwhile, talks at the Workplace Relations Commission about the agreement reached in January that averted industrial action by ED nurses have been adjourned until tomorrow.
The agreement to reduce ED overcrowding provided for a WRC chaired review involving the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, the HSE and the Department of Health.
The INMO said that despite the deal, there had been an 18% increase in admitted patients on trolleys during the first two weeks of this month, compared to the same period last year.
Last night INMO general secretary Liam Doran said yesterday’s discussions were “very frustrating” and that “the management side seemed unable to confirm its willingness to fund all aspects of the agreement”.
“At times we had the bizarre situation of the HSE saying it needed to correspond with the Department of Health even though both parties were there and involved in the process,” Mr Doran said.
The union is concerned about a critical shortage of staff which it says is resulting in most shifts being being left short of the agreed staffing level.
The INMO also said it had become clear that the HSE was seeking to slow down recruitment due to hospital budgets being exceeded and this was a breach of the agreement.
