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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 5 to 9, inclusive, together.

Cabinet sub-committee B last met on 22 October. The sub-committee covers the areas of social policy and public service reform, including education, children, social inclusion, Irish, arts and culture, and continued improvements and reform of the public service.

The Cabinet committee system aims to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the delivery of the relevant commitments in the programme for partnership Government, and provides the opportunity to shape proposals on issues such as equality and disability, which require input from multiple Departments.

The aim of Government is to ensure that the polices and services approved and advanced by Cabinet sub-committee B bring about sustainable improvements in people's lives, particularly those most vulnerable, and introduce supports and opportunities to help those on the margins of society fulfil their potential and lead full and engaged lives.

Through policy interventions at Cabinet committee level, Government has introduced a number of sustainable reforms aimed at improving the lives and standard of living of those most in need. These include: affordable childcare; ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with a Disability; advancing a number of important gender equality measures; and the development of an in-school speech and language therapy service, a pilot of which is now under way.

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