Brendan Howlin Confident Health Budget Will Be Within Targets

Brendan howlin confident health budget will be within targets

The Public Expenditure Minister says he is confident that health spending will not exceed its budget targets. Brendan Howlin says he believes there is no reason that health spending cannot be kept within the limits laid down in Budget 2014. The HSE overspent by 54 million euro in the first two months of the year - with some reports that spending could be over half a billion euro too high by the end of the year. Minister Howlin wants more health savings out of the Haddington Road deal. But says he is not worried about the HSE missing its budget: "As far as I'm concerned, we make rational decisions on the basis of providing quality public services to the best of our ability and within the resources that are allocated" he said. "And if we can, at the end of year, move resources to meet demand that can happen". "I'm absolutely confident that at the end of the year, the expenditure target set out in the budget will be met" he added.