Estonian finance committee adds 7.47 million euros for special care

Estonia’s parliamentary Finance Committee has adopted two amendments to the 2027 state budget, including 7.47 million euros in additional funding to improve access to special care services, ERR reported.

One amendment, drafted with the Finance Ministry, reallocates spending and investment funding between government agencies to reflect the structure of next year’s budget.

The second allocates 7.47 million euros to the Ministry of Social Affairs from the government reserve. The draft budget already earmarks 57.67 million euros for special care services. Committee chair Annely Akkermann said the additional funding would increase that allocation by about 13 percent and help improve access to and the quality of services. The change partly supports a proposal submitted by the Social Democratic Party faction.

Akkermann said the committee rejected other amendments because they did not align with the budget’s objectives. The draft sets next year’s state revenue at 19.4 billion euros, expenditure at nearly 20.2 billion euros and investment at nearly 1.2 billion euros. Parliament is due to hold the budget bill’s second reading on Wednesday, November 11.