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

Cabinet committee E met on 12 September and is scheduled to meet again on 23 November. Committee E covers issues related to the health service. As well as considering current issues and challenges faced by the health service, such as measures to improve access to scheduled and unscheduled care over the months ahead, the Cabinet committee will oversee the development of the Government's response to the Sláintecare report. As I previously stated, the Government agrees with the broad principles of the report, which align well with current policy direction in many cases. However, as recognised by the Oireachtas committee, further work is required on the costings and practical implementation challenges. Additionally, the Government needs to consider the phasing and sequencing of the recommendations, given budgetary and capacity constraints. The Government had a dedicated discussion on health reform on 13 October at our Cabinet meeting in Cork during which the Minister for Health updated the Cabinet on the ongoing considerations of the Sláintecare report. This work will be taken forward under the auspices of the Cabinet committee.

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