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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 5, inclusive, together.

Cabinet committee E covers issues relating to the health service, including health system reforms. Cabinet committee E last met on 11 April. The next meeting has yet to be scheduled.

In addition to meetings of the full Cabinet and of the Cabinet committees I meet with Ministers on a bilateral basis as required to focus on particular issues. In this regard I meet regularly, most recently last Monday, with the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, to discuss the challenges facing the health service.

Government is committed to modernising and streamlining our health service. This is evidenced by the record allocation of €14.5 billion to the health service this year and the recently launched national development plan, Project Ireland 2040. We have provided for significant capital funding of €10.9 billion for the health service over the next ten years. This will allow for implementation of new models of care and for delivery of services in high quality modern facilities.

Investing in new capacity alone will not deliver the improvement in our health services that we need. The health service capacity review published in January makes clear that investment and reform must happen in tandem and must be mutually supportive. The Government has affirmed its commitment to implementing a significant programme of reform following the publication of the Sláintecare report by the Oireachtas Committee on the Future of Healthcare last year.

A number of actions are currently under way. They include the recruitment of the lead executive of the programme office - this is well-advanced and interviews have now been completed; the work of an independent group, as recommended by Sláintecare, chaired by Donal de Buitléir to examine the impact of removing private practice from public hospitals; and a recently-launched public consultation on the geographical alignment of hospital groups and community healthcare organisations.

The Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, is committed to early engagement with general practitioner representatives on the reform of the GP contract and that is expected to commence in the coming weeks. All this work will be taken forward under the auspices of Cabinet committee E.

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