Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

According to the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, an enormous programme of profound change is under way in the health service. Would the Taoiseach not agree that, if that was the case, the Cabinet sub-committee would meet much more often than it does? From the meetings outlined by the Taoiseach, of which there were three last year, I get the sense that what we are witnessing is a kind of care and maintenance approach by the sub-committee on health towards the health service in general. The general outside view is that the service is directionless and going nowhere in a hurry in regard to the Minister's plans, which nobody can really ascertain in any case. No detailed proposals on universal health insurance have been put either to officials or through the system. The board of the HSE was abolished without anything being put in its place and this has created a genuinely serious legal and governance limbo within the health service which is unsatisfactory in terms of accountability and governance.

I was gobsmacked by the Taoiseach's assertion-----

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