Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I reassure Deputy O'Sullivan that we are certainly not ignoring Sláintecare. We very much support as a Government the principles behind it but it requires a bit of work. It requires proper costings for a start. We do not accept the costings in the report and they need to be done. The Labour Party seems to have accepted an obvious one in its alternative budget, which is the cost of abolishing all hospital charges at only €25 million. No one in this House believes that all hospital charges could be abolished for €25 million. The Labour Party in its document has accepted that costing hook, line and sinker. We think we need to do some proper costings first before we make decisions. However, the Deputy will see some real measures in this budget that show form and that show our commitment to begin to implement the principles of Sláintecare in the years ahead. For example, there is the reduction in the drug payment scheme threshold by €10, thereby reducing the cost of medication for families that do not have a medical card from €144 to €134 a month. There is also a reduction in the prescription charge. Having reduced it for the over-70s last year, we will reduce it for the under-70s in the year ahead. There will also be additional investment in primary care. As indicated by the Minister for Health, funding is being put in place to establish a health reform programme office to draw up the road map and plan to implement Sláintecare. It is a good report and I support its basic principles, as does the Government. It will be discussed in more detail at our special Cabinet meeting in Cork on Friday but it is, at best, a plan for a plan. It needs a great deal more work before it can be turned into a roadmap for health reform. That is the kind of work the Minister, Deputy Harris, is now undertaking.

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