Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

That is a disappointing response considering that the Taoiseach's party signed up to Sláintecare and that included signing up to the costings. The principle is not much good to those who are waiting for access to health care. In our alternative budget, we costed the various elements that were supposed to be introduced in 2018. The Government's allocation of €25 million for primary care and just setting up an office will do nothing to implement Sláintecare. The Taoiseach outlined figures earlier in the context of additional money for health. When they are broken down, €125 million relates to announcements in the previous budget, €60 million relates to the public sector pay deal, while the speculated overspend for this year is €300 million, which the Taoiseach has indicated will be a charge on the Department. When they are taken into account, the additional money available to health for new measures is only €165 million. This does not indicate meaningful progress with regard to Sláintecare and it must be particularly disappointing for all those who sat on the committee and signed up to the report. Is it the Government's policy to ignore that ten-year vision, given the first year of that ten-year vision is next year? The Taoiseach said there will be a special Cabinet meeting. When does the Government intend to seriously get about implementing the Sláintecare report?

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