Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Deputies who have contributed to the debate in a very positive and constructive way. I would like to particularly thank Deputy Harty for bringing forward this Bill and this issue for debate, as it has provided us with an important avenue for discussion on our own ambitions for health. I would also like to acknowledge all of Deputy Harty's work as Chair of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and as a member of the Committee on the Future of Healthcare, which was so central in the direction of travel for health provision and planning through the Sláintecare report.

While there is no doubt that the Bill we are discussing this evening is very well intentioned, I do not believe it is the appropriate way to drive progress in this area. The Private Members' Bill before us seeks to embed a right to health in the Constitution. I respectfully suggest such an action would leave us open to many inadvertent and unintended consequences, ones which cannot be foreseen at this juncture. Further thought should be given to this issue in a measured and informed manner, with all options fully understood and considered. There is the additional point that to pass this Bill would be to disregard the significant consideration that has already been given to this topic through the aforementioned forum of the Oireachtas Committee on the Future of Healthcare, with its final recommendations on this issue proposing a universal single-tier health and social care service guaranteed on a primary legislative basis. This is something that I strongly support. Additionally, while I appreciate the desire to deliver on this aim as quickly as possible, the Sláintecare report equally emphasised that such a shift requires a phased approach to implementation, so that we all can be assured that we have adequate capacity and ability to deliver this.

For these reasons, the reasoned amendment declines to give the Bill a reading on Second Stage for the various reasons I have outlined, as opposed to disagreeing with the overall principle of what the proposer of this Bill is trying to achieve. As the Minister, Deputy Harris, said earlier, we can look forward to working with all Deputies in the House on the underlying principle of the Bill, that of driving our health service forward and closer to the vision of Sláintecare. I ask the House to allow the programme of work on eligibility and entitlement that is currently ongoing time to manifest its aims, with the assurance that the issues debated here tonight will be considered through the Sláintecare programme implementation office and that it will provide a report to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health within six months.

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