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Dr Steevens' Hospital, HSE headquarters.
Unprecedented National Service Plan budget Having been expected in November 2020 but delayed until February 2021 amid the pandemic and other considerations, the publication of the HSE’s 2021 National Service Plan details an “unprecedented” increase of allocation by €3.5 billion. The €3.5 billion increase for the 2021 National Service Plan brings the total amount of funding allocated to the HSE for 2021 to €20.6 billion and represents an increase of 21 per cent on the funding level of the 2020 National Service Plan. €1.68 billion of the €3.5 billion increase is to be allocated to Covid-19 spending, with the remaining €1.8 billion representing an underlying increase of 10.6 per cent in health spending, itself an increase on the 7.3 per cent average annual increase recorded between 2016
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and 2020. €1.1 billion of this €1.8 billion is dedicated to the delivery of “permanent enduring improvements in healthcare arising from the Sláintecare reform programme”; the remaining €700 million of the non-Covid related increase is “to cover the increased costs of providing existing levels of service which have increased due to demographics changes and various cost increases”. Paul Reid, CEO of the HSE, said: “This significant investment represents the trust that the Government and the public
have placed in us after a year in which our staff have gone above and beyond to do all they can to keep people safe and healthy. The last 12 months have brought very rapid changes in how we provide healthcare, and we intend to use the best of the changes coupled with the new investment to sustainably transform how we deliver healthcare in Ireland.” The National Service Plan is the annual document that sets out the type and volume of health and personal social services to be provided by the HSE
