Health service 'needs €1bn more': Varadkar

The health service needs up to €1bn more in funding just to meet existing levels of demand, Health Minister Leo Varadkar has said.

Writing in today's Irish Times, Mr Varadkar also acknowledged even more money would be needed in future to cope with Ireland's ageing and growing population.

He said he believed "major organisational changes" were required in the system, but pointed out that even if it was well-organised, an "underfunded service will be a poor one".

He said no form of universal healthcare was possible "unless we are willing to find the resources needed to make it work"…Are we willing as a society to pay for it?"