Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is a five-year programme and we are just over 18 months into the lifetime of the Government.

The proposal to introduce universal health insurance is a specific commitment of the Government to be delivered towards the end of the first term of its life. Page 43 states:

In the first term of this Government, the foundations will be laid for the introduction of Universal Hospital Care Insurance:

- The legislative basis for UHI will be enacted.

- Public hospitals will be given autonomy from the HSE.

- The HSE's function of purchasing care for uninsured patients will be given to a Hospital Care Purchase Agency which will combine with the National Treatment Purchase Fund to purchase care for the uninsured over this transition period.

That was never going to be introduced in the first 18 months of this Administration. It is a commitment that will be carried through but it will not be realised until the back end of the lifetime of this Administration.

This is the first occasion on which any Government has ring-fenced money for mental health services. Specific responsibility has been given to the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, in this area, and she is doing a superb job. Recruitment is in train and the successful candidates will take up positions next year. Clearly, the tragedy of suicide is very close to the Minister of State's heart. She is working very hard with the relevant groups and voluntary organisations throughout the country.

The work on legislation for NewERA is ongoing. The Government announced a stimulus fund of €2.5 billion in respect of the public private partnership system, covering transport, schools, health, justice and the major development at the Grangegorman campus in Dublin Central. Deputy Adams is aware that PPPs normally take 15 to 18 months to get up and running. There is quite a deal of administrative material to go through before they become a reality. I expect there may be developments on some of the major routes around the country that are ready to proceed in so far as tenders have been received and contracts awarded.

The programme for Government is a five year programme overseen by my Department. As of the end of September, 111 of the 620 commitments in the programme have been honoured, substantial progress has been made on 144, there is ongoing implementation in the case of 37, some progress has been made on 220, and action is required on a further 108. Some of the commitments that have been dealt with include the opening of the new cystic fibrosis unit at St Vincent's Hospital, which was long-awaited and much required. The report of the forum on patronage and pluralism in the primary sector, which is of interest to parents throughout the country, has been completed. Other commitments that have been dealt with include the development of the national intellectual property protocol, the publication of the national carer's strategy, the register of residential property prices, which is of interest to everybody, and the report of the commission on credit unions.

There are other commitments in respect of which an end is almost in sight. In this regard, I hope the children's rights referendum will be piloted through successfully by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs on Saturday. I hope as many people as possible vote "Yes". The highly complex personal insolvency legislation is to be enacted. Other commitments include the review of the White Paper on Irish Aid, the enactment of legislation to protect small building subcontractors, which matter was raised in the House on many occasions, the establishment of the shared HR service for the Civil Service and making high-speed broadband more accessible. The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, is overseeing the last commitment in respect of more than 200 schools nationwide. These are the figures.

Next March, we hope to have a further progress report. At today's Cabinet meeting, I advised every Minister that while they will be very busy between now and the end of the year, and even busier in the first six months of next year, I expect them to delegate responsibility through their Secretaries General and senior public servants to ensure the commitments for which they are responsible will be worked upon in order that we will be able to make available a further progress report next March. The report can be debated in the House.

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