Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I refer to the report on the future of health care, the Sláintecare report. I am concerned there has been very little reaction from the Government to it. I know that it is only two days since it was launched, that it will be presented to the Cabinet next week and that it will be in debated in the Dáil on 16 June, but it is very important that it be kept to the forefront. It is much more than report; it is a blueprint for reforming the health service, the people's health service. We must understand why reform is absolutely necessary and must be implemented, not next year or sometime in the future but now. Soon our ageing population will overwhelm primary care and hospital services. Trolley queues are endemic in hospitals and there are lengthening waiting times in outpatient departments and for procedures. The report is a blueprint for reforming the entire health service, not just bits of it to satisfy crises when they occur. If a problem for scoliosis or cycstic fibrosis patients is highlighted, it is partially dealt with and if the trolley queues are longer than usual, they are partially dealt with, but there is no overall plan for the health service.

The report clearly identifies the need for change. Additionally, it outlines a ten-year vision for transforming the health service. It gives direction and impetus. We must move away from fragmented, disjointed and incoherent health service planning which lacks cohesion and credibility. We must address the lack of capacity in the system. It is a cross-party report. The reform programme needs political commitment at the very highest level, from the new Taoiseach's office, to drive it forward. We have had three Fine Gael Ministers for Health in the past six years and they have all failed to reform the health system.

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