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Varadkar compares running HSE to loaves and fishes

The Health Minister has compared running the health service to the biblical parable of the loaves...
Newstalk
Newstalk

18.43 27 Nov 2014


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Varadkar compares running HSE...

Varadkar compares running HSE to loaves and fishes

Newstalk
Newstalk

18.43 27 Nov 2014


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The Health Minister has compared running the health service to the biblical parable of the loaves and fishes, admitting the service is underfunded.

Leo Varadkar made the comments at the launch of the HSE's National Service Plan for 2015 - which contains the first spending increase since 2008.

While he welcomed the spending increase next year, Mr Varadkar said there are still a lot of challenges facing the health sector.

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“I don’t often quote scripture. I was drawn to the gospel according to Luke, particularly Luke 9.16, which is the parable of the loaves and the fishes.

“What we’ve tried to do here is to meet so many enormous demands, feeding the five thousand with very tight, very difficult resources,” he added.

The HSE will have an extra €115m to spend next year, an increase of one per cent, after the €510m deficit for 2014 is met. There will be an additional €35m for mental health services.

Mental health and disability services will get more funding, while 1,700 permanent front-line jobs will be filled across the HSE.

The Irish Medical Organisation warned that the HSE faced “a very difficult” year in 2015, following today’s publication.

Professor Trevor Duffy, President of the IMO, warned that the plan had “literally no margin for additional demand” and that it would “maintain current overstretched services at current unacceptable levels.”


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