‘This merely confirms the IMO position after Budget 2024, when it warned that the funding allocated would not be sufficient to run the health service’

Tuesday July 9, 2024. The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has called on the Government to use the fiscal space at its disposal to properly invest in capacity and workforce to adequately meet rising demand.

 

The IMO was responding to the publication of the Government’s Summer Economic Statement today (Tuesday). In it, the Government has committed to dedicating an additional €1.5 billion for the health sector this year, and a further €1.2 billion next year to maintain existing services.

 

The IMO warned last year that the allocation for the health system allocated in Budget 2024 would not be sufficient to maintain existing service levels. It said that the money granted today would not improve services but merely allow the system to continue operating at its current level.

 

Speaking today, IMO President, Dr Denis McCauley, said: “It is disingenuous of the Government to announce this additional funding in the context of ‘improved healthcare outputs and better health outcomes’ when it was inevitable it would be needed for the system to continue operating at its current capacity.

 

“This funding should have been factored into Budget 2024 in the first place, which would have eliminated the need for this announcement. This merely confirms the IMO position at that time last year, when it warned that the funding allocated would not be sufficient to run the health service.”

 

Dr McCauley said that the Government should plan for Budget 2025 in a more realistic manner. “We need to fund the health service according to demand and our future needs which are predictable. Our population is ageing, and treatment is becoming more complex – if we continue to underestimate the resources needed at Budget time we will be condemned to repeating this process again next year. Our health service deserves appropriate funding to address longstanding capacity and resourcing issues which are worsening as our population grows and ages.”