Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

When the committee was doing its work it invited many experts to its meetings and received the contributions of many stakeholders in the area, including health care professionals, academics and other interested parties. Undoubtedly, that contributed hugely to the report. The Government acknowledges the level of expertise that went into framing the report, so it must be taken extremely seriously. I believe every Member of the House would like to see a ten year plan to which everybody would adhere and work. There are issues, of course, and we will have the debate on Thursday week. The Deputy's point about an implementation office is very well made. It also requires a whole-of-Government approach, because funding is such a huge issue.

Clearly, the Ministers for Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Health, and the other relevant Ministers have a key role in future funding. The funding needs are great; there is no question about that. It is an extra €1 billion this year. We are seeing considerable sums of money going into our health service. We have to make sure the reforms are happening and that the money is well spent.

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