Oversight committee to probe health budget overruns

The Committee on Budgetary Oversight will scrutinise persistent overspending within the health sector, focusing on budget forecasting and expenditure pressures. The session, involving Department of Health and HSE representatives, will be held at Leinster House, addressing impacts on the national finances.

The Committee on Budgetary Oversight will convene on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, at 3 pm in Committee Room 4 of Leinster House to investigate recurrent overspends in health sector finances. Officials from the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive (HSE) are scheduled to attend, providing insights into budget forecasting challenges and the strain such expenditures place on the State’s overall financial position.

Context and significance

Deputy Richard O’Donoghue, Chair of the Committee, emphasised the critical nature of health spending, noting it as one of the largest components of public expenditure. With an allocation of €29.1 billion in Budget 2027, health expenditure has been responsible for roughly 40% of total spending overruns, according to the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC).

Deputy O’Donoghue expressed concern that despite substantial additional funding year after year, there remains insufficient clarity on how these funds are utilised and why expenditure consistently surpasses budgets.

The HSE’s financial difficulties are starkly illustrated by a €781 million deficit recorded at the end of September 2026. Moreover, the Houses of the Oireachtas Parliamentary Budget Office estimates that health spending may exceed its 2026 gross current expenditure allocation by around €1 billion.

Areas under scrutiny

The Committee intends to delve into several key factors contributing to budget pressures, including:

Hospital expenditure
Agency staffing costs
Overtime payments
Recruitment beyond funded levels
Non-pay expenditure

Additionally, the financial consequences linked to the recent transition to the HSE’s six regional health structures will be examined, noting that all regions have faced formal financial escalations since April 2026. For those interested, the meeting will be streamed live via the official Oireachtas website www.oireachtas.ie and accessible through the Oireachtas smartphone app available on Apple and Android devices.

Media contact

For further information, media representatives can reach out to Áine McMahon at the Houses of the Oireachtas Communications Unit:

Phone: +353 (0) 1 618 4643 or +353 (0) 85 800 7312
Email: [email protected], [email protected]
Twitter: @OireachtasNews