Harney announces details of spending plans for next year
Minister for Health Mary Harney has announced how she intends to spend the money allocated to her department in yesterday’s Budget.
In total, €395m in additional spending has been designated to key health services.
Two new sexual assault and treatment centres will be developed in Galway and Tullamore.
Seven million euro will go towards sexual assault and domestic violence services.
Forty million euro has been assigned to improve primary care and €41m to services for people with intellectual disabilities.
Elsewhere, €255m will go towards services for older people, including an extra 2,000 home-care packages, an additional 800 residential beds and 780,000 more home-help hours.
Seventy-five million euro will be spent on services for people with disabilities, while an extra €25m will go towards mental-health services.
Announcing the details today, Ms Harney confirmed that VHI subscriptions would rise by 6% as a result of the decision to increase charges for private patients in public hospitals by 25%.
