Health dept gets €18m boost to cut NI waiting lists

An extra £12m (€17.8m) is being allocated to the British department of health to cut hospital waiting lists in the North and to boost bed capacity during the winter months, it was announced today.

The money is from almost £60m being reallocated by British finance minister Ian Pearson between departments.

A further £9m (€13.3m) has been given to the UK's department of education to allow for the acceleration of planned maintenance and building improvement schemes in areas of greatest need.

The department of social development is getting £11.6m (€17.2m) to address pressures in a number of areas, including welfare reform, urban regeneration and its Special Purchase of Evacuated Dwellings [SPED] scheme.

Announcing the redistribution Mr Pearson said the amounts were not additional to the Northern Ireland budget, but represented good financial management in redirecting funding to those areas of public services with the highest priority.

“The £58.9m (€87.4m) had become available through changes in expenditure expectations identified by departments, he said.

“The amounts being announced today are targeted at those areas of public services which can benefit immediately from additional funding, in particular health and education,” he said.