The HSE has confirmed that the service was over budget by €400m at the end of May.
Health Service Executive CEO Anne O’Connor told the Oireachtas Committee on Health that the organisation’s pay budget was significantly over, adding that the winter period was particularly busy.
She also said there was a significant programme to reduce the reliance on agency staff.
Ms O’Connor also told the committee that the growth in the deficit has slowed.
The recently appointed Secretary General of the Department of Health, Derek Tierney, said the service is currently operating under very significant pressure.
Mr Tierney told the committee that pressures are evident in rising demand, driven by demographic change and increasing complexity of care; in access and waiting times and in workforce constraints and morale.
He said there is a need to manage expenditure carefully while maintaining and improving services.
Asked if the performance situation at the National Children’s Hospital had improved, he told the committee that it has not in any tangible way.
He said the contractors had missed 19 deadlines but have said that the effective completion will now be the end of August.
This was Mr Tierney’s first appearance before the health committee.
The National Paediatric Development Board, which is overseeing the new hospital, said that builders BAM’s programme includes current indicative timelines that point to completion towards the end of the summer.
However, the board said this remains subject to validation and testing by the independent Employer’s Representative, a process which takes a number of weeks to complete.
This is nearing completion.
The board said the contractor is required to deliver in line with its agreed programme, including ensuring that the necessary resources are in place to achieve full delivery.
The NPHDB said that, together with all stakeholders, it remains fully committed to progressing the project and to delivering the new hospital as soon as possible.
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