Press Release: Tuesday 1 April 2025
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill updates Cabinet on details of the Productivity and Savings Action Plan for 2025.
Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD, has today brought a memo to Government, outlining the details of the Productivity and Savings Action Plan for 2025.
The Action Plan sets out an ambitious and realistic programme of targets aimed at improving productivity in the delivery of healthcare, minimising the level of financial risk the health service is facing, as well as identifying important areas where savings can be made this year.
For 2025, the HSE’s National Service Plan sets a target of a further €382 million in savings, with total cumulative savings of €633 million estimated by end 2025. Achieving these savings will be the focus of the Productivity and Savings Taskforce, which will report on progress against the Action Plan deliverables to the Minister for Health and through published updates throughout the year.
Speaking after Cabinet today, Minister Carroll MacNeill said:
“Progress has been made over the past year, with the HSE delivering savings of €251 million in 2024. Through identifying areas where savings can be made, it will ensure that we can better support our frontline staff and healthcare professionals, which ultimately will ensure better outcomes for our patients.
“Our goal is to create a health service that is not only patient-centred, but also a financially efficient one to ensure a healthier future for all.”
The Productivity and Savings Taskforce was established in January 2024, with Bernard Gloster, Health Service Executive (HSE) CEO and the Secretary General for the Department of Health, Robert Watt, co-chairing a Programme to drive savings and productivity improvements across the HSE.
The Taskforce is proposing a number of specific areas to target in the Action Plan 2025, based on four themes, as set out below:
- Savings Measures and Financial Reform
- Service Level Productivity Measures
- Workforce Improvements
- Virtual Care and ICT Reforms
The Taskforce will also focus on progressing a number of productivity measures aimed at increasing capacity and treating more patients, particularly through maximising the use of the Public Only Consultant Contract and introducing improvements to rostering and increases in theatre utilisation, in order to increase evening and weekend activity and deliver more health services over 7 days.
In March 2024, the Taskforce published its first Action Plan, setting out initial targets in priority areas. In 2024, the HSE delivered savings or reduced expenditure by €251 million, which comprised the following:
- medicines savings of €54 million;
- management consultancy savings of €34 million; and
- other pay and non-pay cost reductions across the system of €163 million.
As with previous years, the Action Plan will be a “living” document, and will be published on the Department’s website, with updates to additional measures being added over the course of 2025.