Health Service To Get More Money Next Year
For the first time in six years, the health service is getting more money to spend.
An extra 115 million euro will be spent on things like mental health and maternity services, and free GP care for children.
Although some of the money will be used to replace agency staff, today's announcement isn't being billed as a lifting of the recruitment ban.
The Health Minister, Leo Varadkar, says despite the bigger budget - the health service will still face challenges:
The Head of the HSE says there will always be people on trolleys at hospitals, but added that they won't be there for such long periods of time.
Tony O'Brien says Ireland is still a long way off from meeting targets of 8 hours on a trolley before being admitted to hospital, but there will be a much greater emphasis on ensuring those who can be discharged from wards are..