Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. How frequently has the Cabinet committee on health met? Is he satisfied that committee is meeting sufficiently frequently and achieving any objectives? It is incredible that the White Paper on health insurance, which was meant to be published before Christmas, has yet to be published. One wonders what the Cabinet committee on health is doing. Before the general election we heard all about the Dutch model and money following the patient. They were probably the two greatest sound bites of any election campaign. Many of the electorate wondered what the Dutch model was about and we are still none the wiser two years on. There is very little detailed work done on it and it is important for the Taoiseach to outline if the Cabinet committee on health will meet more frequently now, in particular to process the White Paper on health insurance.

Has the committee discussed the health insurance issue? Is that an issue of concern to the Taoiseach because it seems to be in a death spiral? There is a high level of market failure in our health insurance industry and people are leaving in their thousands because of the high cost of premia. The VHI needs a capital injection of €200 million to stay functioning in the coming weeks. It is not clear whether the Government has decided to provide for that injection.

The three and six month waiting times have increased by more than 40%, and these are the world benchmarks by which the National Treatment Purchase Fund has always set its targets. The paediatric waiting benchmark is three months. When the Government came into office these targets were changed overnight to nine and 12 months to put a better gloss on the figures. It was laid bare at the weekend in Susan Mitchell's report in The Sunday Business Post, which detailed a 40% increase in these waiting lists contrary to the spin. Given these facts, is it not time for the health committee to meet more frequently than it has to get to grips with these and many other issues?

The Taoiseach indicated the Cabinet committee on mortgages will meet tomorrow. Apart from this meeting, it has met only once since it was established in July 2012. Will the Taoiseach indicate whether he is satisfied the banks retain a veto over the resolution of household debt? Banks have power and a veto over many customers who are very concerned not only about repossession but also about the terms and conditions banks may apply to mortgage holders with regard to resolving mortgage arrears issues. It is without doubt the number one issue facing many young couples, who feel many of the elites, such as bankers, have been provided for while mortgage holders have not. It has taken a long time to put in place the legislation and there is no sense the mortgage holder will get a fair deal or a reasonable outcome in negotiations with the banks. Most Deputies witness this in discussions with those in mortgage arrears. There is no confidence the issue will be dealt with.

Will the Taoiseach indicate whether the committee has examined the potential recapitalisation of the banks which will be required in the event of a meaningful engagement with this issue once and for all? The deputy governor of the Central Bank raised for the first time in fairly stark terms the situation pertaining to impaired SME loans which, in her estimation, is quite a huge figure. When this is added to the banks' mortgage books an issue arises as to whether the banks will need to be further recapitalised. Perhaps the Taoiseach will clarify this for us.

Will the Taoiseach indicate whether the Cabinet agreed today a new initiative on capital investment? Last year we were told €2.5 billion was to be invested utilising funding from the National Pensions Reserve Fund through public private partnerships. Has any of this money being used? Has there been any follow-through on this initiative? How many jobs have been created? How much of the €2.5 billion has been spent? Will the Taoiseach outline the results which have flown from this initiative, which was announced last July by the Government?

With regard to unemployment, the figure in the south east is 18.8%, which is 8% higher than the figure in the Dublin region. The figure in the midlands is between 16.5% and 16.9%. The plethora of plans and announcements has not had any impact on real job numbers. Emigration keeps the figure stable, but no fundamental inroads have been made by any of the initiatives announced with regard to getting more people back to work.

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