HSE SERVICE PLAN PUBLISHED WITH MEDICAL CARD SAVINGS CUT TO JUST 23 MILLION EURO
The Health Service Executive (HSE) has published its Service Plan outlining the need for cuts of over 1 billion euro next year.
However it has slashed its targets for savings from cutbacks to medical cards.
The agency now expects to save just 23 million euro from examining the cards currently issued. This is down from 113 million euro announced on budget day.
But the HSE is warning that it cannot stand over proposed payroll savings of 108 million euro and that more funding could be needed.
It comes as the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin has said he will fund a once off, targeted redundancy scheme aimed at administrators in the HSE.
Brendan Howlin says the issue was discussed by the Cabinet yesterday and he will use money from the sale of State assets to pay for the scheme.
“I’m anxious where there is clearly too many administrators – if that is the case, if the HSE have identified and targeted people who are not required in the delivery of services and they propose to me a targeted voluntary redundancy scheme , I will fund it” he said.
