BUDGET 2016: HSE Service Plan to determine health budget details

Most of the details of how money will actually be spent under next year’s health budget will not be available until publication of the HSE Service Plan 2016, the health minister said yesterday.

While both Health Minister Leo Varadkar and junior health minister Kathleen Lynch claimed they had secured a “substantial increase” in health service funding in Budget 2016, up €880m on 2015, at least €600m will have to go towards a supplementary budget to see out the health service for the remainder of this year.

This means just €280m in new money goes forward to next year, a 2% raise on 2015.