Government has approved HSE draft service plan, Taoiseach tells Dáil

The Government has approved the Health Service Executive’s draft service plan, Taoiseach Enda Kenny told the Dáil.

He said Minister for Health Leo Varadkar would outline details of the plan this week, "in terms of the extra resources applied to health and how that will impact on the major areas of frontline services''.

Mr Kenny said that while he could not give a projection of numbers being treated by the health services in the future, the plan would have an impact on the health area in general.

‘Dishonest and flawed’

The Taoiseach was replying to

Fianna Fáil

leader Micheál Martin, who accused the Government of introducing “dishonest and flawed” health budgets.

Mr Martin said that one in every eight patients now on a hospital waiting list was on the queue for more than a year. This represented 50,000 patients and a 400 per cent increase since January.

In Tallaght hospital alone, close to 7,000 patients were waiting for more than a year, he added.

Mr Kenny said that more than €600 million extra had been allocated for the health services.

In September this year, the number of patients waiting for more than 12 months for an outpatient appointment had decreased from 84,167 to 41,604, a reduction of 51 per cent.

Mr Martin said the Taoiseach had "got rid'' of former minister for health Dr James Reilly because the health services were in tatters. "You starved health last year and you brought in a false budget,'' he added.