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

Cabinet committee E covers issues relating to the health service including health system reforms. The next meeting of this Cabinet committee has not yet been scheduled but last week I met the Ministers for Health and Finance, Deputies Harris and Donohoe, to discuss the Sláintecare implementation report. In addition to meetings of the full Cabinet and Cabinet committees, I meet with Ministers on an individual basis as required to focus on particular issues. In this regard I meet regularly with the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, to discuss the challenges facing the health service.

The Government is committed to enhancing the quality of the health service and has allocated significant capital funding for investment in health infrastructure of €10.9 billion over the next ten years. This will provide major investment projects and programmes, including the provision of 2,600 additional acute hospital beds to be delivered across all hospitals, along with significant reform initiatives. Investment in our health services must go hand in hand with reform.

A number of actions have been advanced on foot of the Sláintecare report including the independent working group, chaired by Donal de Buitléir, which is examining the impact of removing private practice from public hospitals. We expect that working group to report later this year. We have commenced a public consultation on the geographical alignment of hospital groups and Community Healthcare Organisations, CHOs, as recommended in the Sláintecare report. The Minister for Health has also begun discussions with general practitioner representatives on the reform of the GP contract, while reductions have been made to prescription charges, in line with the Sláintecare recommendations.

The Government’s implementation plan will be published in the coming weeks and the recruitment of a lead executive for the programme is well advanced. We are awaiting final confirmation and will then inform the House of the identity of the new lead executive. Work is also underway to strengthen the governance arrangements in the HSE. The Minister for Health has published the general scheme of the Health (Amendment) Bill to establish a HSE board and earlier this month the Public Appointments Service advertised the position of chairperson of that board. This will be a different position to that which existed in the past. It will come with remuneration so that whoever is appointed will be able to devote two days per week or more to the role.

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