Ireland top spender on health service but with poorer results

New figures will fuel criticism that health service is not delivering value for money

Fine Gael Minister for Health Leo Varadkar and Labour Party Minister of State at the Department of Health Kathleen Lynch are pictured at the Budget 2016 press briefing Picture: Rollingnews

Ireland spends proportionately more on health than any EU country and more than any other rich country, with the exception of the United States.

A new assessment by the Central Statistics Office has found that Ireland’s health spending is much higher than previously thought. Ireland’s spend on health is the second highest in the OECD as a proportion of gross national income (GNI), the new figures show.

The €18.4 billion spend on health ...