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

During Leaders' Questions, the Taoiseach cited the National Treatment Purchase Fund as an initiative that was delivering improvements. What he did not say was that it was he and his Government that abolished and fought against its retention. James Reilly mothballed it in terms of waiting lists. Does the Taoiseach accept the policy of diverting money from the National Treatment Purchase Fund was wrong and that waiting times just went too long and that people are waiting far too long?

In terms of health policy in general, there is a bit of confusion. I will hear the Taoiseach's reply on it. The Taoiseach has clearly abandoned the compulsory insurance policy and White Paper, which we were promised in 2011. We were promised it up to about 2015 to 2016. Now we have the Sláintecare report. Other Deputies have mentioned the 645,000 people on waiting lists, emergency department overcrowding, huge problems across the board, 459 people on trolleys yesterday, the hospice situation and the situation of section 39 staff. We raised it with the Taoiseach and he has been very dismissive of it. They are in a really tough situation now. They took a cut at the time and they have not got the allocation from the pay award. They are meant to compete with the other hospitals and everybody else for staff on lower wages. It is not sustainable and it is wrong to put our hospices in that situation. I thought there would be big plans on health following the Taoiseach's election but I have not seen any. Is the Sláintecare report Government policy now or not? The Taoiseach used the phrase "the Government's response to Sláintecare" as if to say the Oireachtas had produced Sláintecare. What is Government policy or Fine Gael health policy because I cannot find it anywhere? Perhaps the Taoiseach will clarify that particular point for me.

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