The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has described Budget 2024 as a missed opportunity to invest in the health service.

The additional core funding increase announced in the Budget is unlikely to maintain additional services, according to the Organisation, let alone meet increased demand from a growing and ageing population with increased complexities.

"Our health services never recovered sufficiently from years of austerity and today’s Budget measures will mean we face the ongoing challenge of trying to deliver care to patients in a service that has insufficient capacity," the IMO said in statement.

Before the Budget, the IMO warned that radical and sustainable investment was the only viable option for the health system and has now described as "disingenuous" the Goverment's talk of overspending in healthcare against the backdrop of a failure to meet the needs of many patients.