Here’s a budget summary with respect to the Health Department.

The Department of Health budget allocation is €23.4 billion

Hospital in-patient fees

Public Hospital inpatient fees will be removed for all patients from 1 April 2023.  Currently inpatient fees are €80 per night – capped at 10 nights in the calendar year.  On the 22nd of September the government already abolished these fees for children up to age 16.

Free GP visits

GP visit Cards will be extended to children aged 6 and 7 by end 2022.

The income limit for the GP visit card will be increased to include people on a median household income of €46,000 or less from April 2023.

Women’s health

Women’s health funding of €32.2 million includes:

• Extending the age range for free contraception to include women aged 16 to 30 (from September 2023)
• Funding for IVF Treatment in the public health system (from September 2023)
• Provide repayments for morning sickness medicines
• Funding to set up a Breast Implant Registry
• Additional Women’s Health Hubs (July 2023)

Mental Health

€1.2 billion will be used for mental health services. This includes:

• Clinical programmes for eating disorders
• Early intervention in psychosis, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and self-harm
• €9 million for Traveller Mental Health; online CBT; Crisis Resolution Services; and enhanced services in the areas of recovery, employment and tenancy supports for those with mental health difficulties

Waiting Lists

€443 million in Budget 2023 is to reduce waiting lists. €225 million of this is from COVID-19 funding. This will provide:

• €123 million funding to reduce hospital waiting lists and other backlogs
• €240 million for additional capacity to reduce waiting lists
• €11.7 million to reduce backlogs in getting an Assessment of Need.
• €12.3 million for catch up programmes for human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) to girls and boys at school and to women aged up to age 25.
• Once-off funding of €11.7 million to reduce backlogs in getting an Assessment of Need.

Disability

€2.4 billion of the 2023 budget will be used for disability services. Some of this will be once-off funding from COVID-19 budget. It will include funding for:

• PA services for younger people to move from nursing homes to residential locations
• Specialist disability services for children or young people in, or moving out of, Túsla care
• A placement in adult day services for 1,200 school leavers
• An additional once-off funding of €39 million is to reduce the Assessment of Need waiting list and for placements in residential centres
• Section 39 organisations will receive €100 million of once off funding in winter of 2022

Older people and people living with dementia

€2.4 billion in funding is provided for:

• Implementing Healthy Age Friendly Homes nationally
• Broadening the Meals on Wheels service
• Dementia supports
• Implement the new national safeguarding policy for the health and social care sector

Oral health

€7.1 million is provided for oral healthcare measures including oral healthcare packages for children aged under 7.

Separately, €9 million once-off funding is provided to reduce waiting lists in orthodontics.

COVID-19

€757 million is being allocated in 2023 for COVID-19 measures including:

• €439 million for public health measures, such as testing and contact tracing, COVID-19 vaccines and for personal protective equipment (PPE) across the health service
• €225 million to reduce hospital waiting lists and other backlogs caused by COVID-19
• €50 million for capital measures related to COVID-19

VAT

VAT will be reduced to zero for:

• Defibrillators
• Period products
• Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and nicotine replacement therapy medicines that are not currently zero-rated (such as patches and gels)

These VAT changes will apply from 1 January 2023.

In another post we will look at the knock on effects of the abolition of inpatient hospital charges for Private Health Insurance.

Patrick Brennan

Director of Corporate Business