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Dept of Health budget to provide for 3,300 extra staff
A record level of total funding of €27.4bn will be allocated to the Department of Health for 2026.
The overall health budget next year will be over €27.3bn, which includes current and capital spending.
It represents an increase of €1.5bn or 6.2%. Day to day spending will be over €25.7bn – an increase of 5% on this year.
Capital spending will be €1.5bn. There are no extra charges for patients or extensions of eligibility in various health schemes, and a review of eligibility for schemes is due to take place.
The budget provides for around 3,300 extra staff, while funding of €173m is allocated for new and existing medicines.
The investment will go towards an increase in acute hospital capacity and the expansion of diagnostic services; at least 280 community beds, continued investment in the community nursing units refurbishment programme, and reductions in community waiting lists.
The funding will also be used for an additional 1.7 million home support hours, 500 more nursing home places, increased staffing and expansion of mental health services including suicide prevention, increased access to CAMHS services and Traveller mental health initiatives.
It also provides for enhanced community and primary care services including the roll-out of the new pharmacy contract.
Extra hospital beds
Budget 2026 also provides for 220-265 extra acute hospital beds.
It commits to providing an extra 500 nursing home support places, as well as an extra 1.7 million home support hours.
The HSE will be required to secure significant savings, including through improved productivity, rostering reforms, less reliance on agency staff and improved governance of the waiting list management programme.
For next year, the HSE will be required to secure €211m in savings, on top of the €600m it had to reduce its cost base during 2024 and 2025.
‘Progressive reforms in our health services’ – Chambers
Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers said the value of this record level of health investment “needs to be fully realised with a focus on productivity, efficiency and better financial governance”.
“These changes will create the basis to establish a more multi-annual structure of funding for health,” he added.
The minister also said that this year’s health funding allocation will be accompanied by a programme of “progressive reform in our health services”.
The reforms include: the ongoing decentralisation of service provision through the new Regional Health Areas and rostering reform which will see the extension of health services to evenings and weekends and a reduction in dependency on agency staffing.
It will also see financial management reform which will allow for improved reporting, better use of procurement and increased expenditure control; and investment in digital health including the HSE Health App, a National Share Care Record, and virtual wards.
Lack of awareness of severe staffing crisis – INMO
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said Budget 2026 lacks the ambition required when it comes to scaling up staffing and capacity in the public health service.
Its General Secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghdha said the intention to hire an additional 3,300 staff demonstrated a “lack of awareness into the severe staffing crisis in our hospitals and in the community”.
She said nurses and midwives are about to work another extremely busy autumn and winter period where their workplaces are not staffed correctly.
The union said the HSE had confirmed that they have left 6,000 funded posts vacant this year.
Disability services gets €3.8 billion in Budget 2026
Meanwhile, Budget 2026 has allocated €3.8 billion to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality for disability services in 2026.
Mr Chambers announced 250 new residential care placements next year. This will see over 9,000 people receive such care in 2026.
He said families waiting for assessments will see progress, with around 6,500 private assessments funded to reduce delays.
More than 150,000 hours of home support and personal assistance will be funded, to help people live independently in their own homes, and 10,000 overnight and 15,000 day respite sessions will be provided.
Disability allowance is also set to rise to €254 per week.
Minister Chambers also said that 1,400 young people finishing school will be supported with day-service places, along with 50 additional places for older adults.
In order to drive reform of the sector, Mr Chambers said a dedicated unit has been established in the Department to lead a full review of Ireland’s disability service model.
“This unit will work hand-in-hand with disabled people, their families, and representative organisations to shape a long-term vision for services to 2030,” Mr Chambers said.
The Irish Wheelchair Association described the lack of provision for a permanent cost of disability payment in the Budget as “utterly disappointing”.
Article Source – Dept of Health budget to provide for 3,300 extra staff
