James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

We made it clear during and since the election campaign that completing this development would take two terms of Government. The idea that we will have a White Paper before Christmas is a non-runner, as that will certainly not be the case. The Deputy's questions were not unreasonable, but these measures will not be delivered within the timeframe to which he alluded. They are a number of important stepping stones along the way. We must build a proper primary care structure. We do not have sufficient primary care centres or a new general practitioner, GP, contract. My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Shortall, will oversee work on the latter. We need to move the care of the chronically ill from the hospitals back into the community. The contract needs to reflect this. Equally, we need to introduce a money-follows-the-patient system of budgeting for our hospitals so that we can have greater transparency and accountability.

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