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

The situation in our health service is a cause of grave concern with the hospitals in disarray and waiting lists increasing to an extraordinary degree, in particular in the children's hospitals where they are up to three to four years. The primary care system is at a very poor level. Morale is shockingly low in general practice and it has been said we will not be able recruit people for rural general practice shortly. Consultants cannot be recruited by hospitals and key staff are not being recruited. The situation is grossly dysfunctional and this is before the impact of the €1 billion cut in the health service plan.

At the weekend, I picked up on a drip-drip sort of leaking around the White Paper on Universal Health Insurance. The Taoiseach has given commitments in the House for quite some time on the publication of the White Paper on Universal Health Insurance but there has been very little consultation between the Minister and spokespeople on health. No one knows what is going on in health; there is no sense of governance or of anyone being in charge. As a result, I have never seen operating morale at such a level low. Will the Taoiseach indicate when this long awaited White Paper on Universal Health Insurance will be published?

A short time ago, the Taoiseach generously offered that he would publish the financial model governing the levying of water charges well in advance of the local elections which means that has to happen in March, April or May. Will the Taoiseach indicate whether that financial model will be published in April, May or even March? Will he arrange Government time for a debate on the model he will put forward?

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