Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I raise again with the Taoiseach the question of the anticipated time for the production of the family courts Bill. I am struck on a regular basis in my constituency by the number of people having difficulties accessing the family courts, the inordinate delays and so on. The Taoiseach has accepted the need for us to take action and produce a family courts system. There was some concern initially that Article 34 of the Constitution might have to be amended in order to facilitate that initiative, but a way has been found around that. Will the Taoiseach give the House some sort of an assurance as to what action the Government will take? In light of the adoption of the children's referendum, there is a need for a real impetus to be injected into this process, and I would include in that the family law Bill promised by the Government.

I also wish to ask about universal health insurance. In April 2014, the Government published a White Paper that was a costings-free zone in terms of its finite proposals. Where are we now on the issue of universal health insurance, which was such a key element of the Government's programme? I ask this against the background of comments by the Tánaiste in the past couple of days, who indicated that any reform of health financing must meet three criteria. She indicated that it must give better outcomes for patients, make access fairer and easier and be affordable. We would all agree with that, but she went on to say, "To be clear, any reform must meet all three criteria." She stated, "I do not know yet whether universal health insurance or any other insurance-based system can meet these three criteria". If this is a key element of the Government's platform-----

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