The expected rise of 10 per cent in the charge for visiting accident and emergency wards and the fee per night for hospital stays are not a stealth tax, according to the Minister for Health.
"The overall budgetary increase those charges represent are a very negligible percentage of the overall increase so it would be wrong to label those as stealth taxes," the Minster for Health, Mr Michael Martin, said ahead of the Budget estimates this afternoon.
The net result of these increases will come as Government spending in the health services tops €10 billion for the first time. However, pay demands 70 per cent of this. The medical-card scheme accounts for €963 million of this year's expenditure.
Speaking to RTÉ radio this morning Mr Martin admitted that prioritising and managing spending would be a challenge for himself and for those working in hospitals over what he called a "very difficult financial year".
"Our challenge next year will be to try and prioritise areas around accident and emergency in hospitals to make the service better for the patient who attends," Mr Martin said.
"We will be breaching the €10 billion barrier in health in terms of spending and there are challenges for the system to manage and prioritise within that expanding budget," he added.
The charges will increase the amount charged to health insurers for use of private beds in public hospitals - which in turn is likely to lead to higher premiums from VHI and BUPA.
The threshold at which the drug-refund scheme kicks in is also anticipated to rise - with an increase similar to the €5 rise last year to €70 predicted.
A steep rise in public service pay of nearly €1 billion was expected to account for the bulk of spending increases.
This is due to a controversial set of benchmarking pay awards, a new national pay deal and annual increments for public servants. Increases in fees and charges, as well as the cutbacks, look on the cards when the Minister reports his spending plans for next year.
As the Departments of Health and Education are likely to receive priority, other Departments will probably see their expenditure drop by up to 3 per cent when the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, publishes the Book of Estimates.
A number of Departments, including Transport, will receive spending increases below the rate of inflation.
Mr McCreevy is expected to increase public spending by close to 7 per cent - almost half the 14 per cent increase in 2001, and less than a third of the 23 per cent rise in 2000.
