The priorities for our health service in Budget 2026 are completely askew, according to Social Democrats health spokesperson P\u00e1draig Rice.<\/p>\n
Deputy Rice, who is Chair of the Oireacthas Health Committee, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the Health Minister\u2019s quest for productivity and value for money, she has lost sight of reform.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe seems to forget that without reform of the health service \u2013 such as moving away from a hospital-centric model \u2013 we will continue to treat people in the least efficient, most expensive way.<\/p>\n
\u201cRarely has there been a more underwhelming budget for health – the Minister has shown no ambition and no commitment to change.<\/p>\n
\u201cMinister Carroll MacNeill\u2019s fixation on cost saving and boosting efficiency has come at the cost of genuine reform.<\/p>\n
\u201cSl\u00e1intecare, a plan to transform the Irish health system, has been put on ice for 2026 – additional solutions put forward by the Social Democrats in our Alternative Budget have been ignored.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere should be a clear focus on consultant rostering, weekend scheduling and hospital activity, but there should also be a focus on improving services and reducing out-of-pocket expenses.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the latter, this year\u2019s Budget does nothing to make healthcare more affordable \u2013 a key element of Sl\u00e1intecare.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s radio silence on extending free GP care and reducing drug payment scheme charges – in a budget which will increase poverty rates, particularly for vulnerable groups, a reduction in costs is absolutely essential.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen questioned about the lack of measures to cut healthcare costs at today\u2019s Department of Health briefing, the Minister pointed to the new common conditions scheme \u2013 an already announced initiative under the Community Pharmacy Agreement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis new scheme will come with a consultation fee, even for medical card patients – there are no big-ticket health reforms in this budget, just a repackaging of pre-committed initiatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cI assumed we would get more details from today\u2019s budget briefing, but very little was forthcoming – in fact, while the Minister listed scoliosis, cancer and endometriosis as priorities, she outlined no new initiatives to achieve progress in these areas and provided no budget allocations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a health budget short on detail, ambition and reform.\u201d<\/p>\n
October 8th, 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The priorities for our health service in Budget 2026 are completely askew, according to Social Democrats health spokesperson P\u00e1draig Rice. Deputy Rice, who is Chair of the Oireacthas Health Committee, said: \u201cIn the Health Minister\u2019s quest for productivity and value for money, she has lost sight of reform. \u201cShe seems to forget that without reform […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11725,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,726,642,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-hse","category-padraig-rice","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n