Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her response. The difficulty is that 12 months down the road I have not been given any indication that we are anywhere closer to bringing in any evaluation of health status. That is very disappointing. If we are to commit to universal health insurance we need a system like this in place and I do not see any progress in that regard.

The Minister of State is right that primary care is the way we need to go but we are introducing a system, in a Bill that we will deal with later, in which under-fives will have GP access. There are huge waiting lists of children trying to avail of physiotherapy, occupational therapy and psychology services and it would be far better in the short term to clear those backlogs, to ensure that children, when they are diagnosed, can get the treatment they require. I am disappointed that we are not seeing any progress in this area. I will continue to table these amendments. I will table this one again in 12 months’ time and hope at that stage I will get a more substantive response from the Department of Health on its progress in respect of health status.

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