Kenny dismisses call from Adams to revisit health budget

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has ruled out revising the Government’s health budget.

He was replying in the Dáil on Wednesday to Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams, who called for extra resources.

“No, I don’t propose to go back to the drawing board,’’ he said.

Mr Kenny said the detail on the Department of Health's website provided a clear understanding the allocation for 2017 was the highest ever.

It represented an increase of over €500 million to the HSE this year, he said.

Mr Kenny said it was not all about money.

“But you would expect, Deputy Adams, that €14.6 billion is a very, very substantial budget in order to attempt to deliver and deal with the main challenges in the healthcare area,’’ he said.

He said he knew there would be problems of a cyclical nature.

Dr Fergal Hickey, an emergency consultant at Sligo Regional Hospital, had said up to 350 patients were dying annually because of overcrowding, according to Mr Adams.

He said last week Ministers had made grand claims about an increase in the health service budget, but the reality was the announcements were “deceptive and grossly exaggerated’’.

Mr Kenny said there were 600 more consultants in the health services than in 2007, and Minister for Health Simon Harris was carrying out a bed capacity review.