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

Tógfaidh mé Ceisteanna Uimh. 1 go 11, go huile, le chéile.

The Cabinet committee on health met yesterday and is due to meet again soon. In addition to the meetings of the full Cabinet and of Cabinet committees, I meet Ministers individually to focus on different issues. I meet regularly with the Minister for Health to discuss progress and challenges in the area of health, including the Sláintecare reform programme.

The primary aim in 2023 is to improve access, outcomes and affordability for patients in line with Sláintecare principles. We are committed to expanding the core capacity of our acute hospitals with more health professionals and more acute hospital beds. Over the past three years we have added almost 1,000 additional hospital beds to the system and more than 360 community beds, with further additional beds planned for 2023 and 2024. We have increased the total public health sector workforce by approximately 18,000 including approximately 7,000 more doctors, nurses, midwives, therapists and physiotherapists and we aim to increase the workforce by an additional 6,000 this year.

There is a strong pipeline of capital projects, including several new hospitals and significant new facilities at existing hospitals. Our multi-annual approach to reducing and reforming waiting lists resulted in an overall reduction in the number of patients exceeding the maximum Sláintecare waiting time, which is approximately three months, by 11% in 2022 at a time when waiting lists are increasing in almost every other developed country in the world. The 2023 waiting list action plan was published on 7 March. For 2023, the Government has allocated €443 million to build on the work already done, with a projected reduction of slightly more than 10% in waiting lists by the end of the year. This includes €123 million on a recurrent basis for the HSE to introduce modernised care pathways, and €80 million has been allocated to various primary care and community care initiatives. Enhanced community care programmes continue at a more local level. This programme, which is investing €240 million in community health services, is easing pressure in hospitals and in more acute settings. In the first full year post implementation, it is projected that community healthcare networks and community specialist teams will enable between 16,000 and 21,000 patients to avoid attending an emergency department.

Work is ongoing on the establishment of six new regional health areas and elective care centres in Dublin, Cork and Galway, as well as surgical hubs in the interim, including in Limerick. We are also facilitating better access to affordable, high-quality healthcare for people at a time when the cost-of-living crisis is affecting everyone. Among other actions to increase eligibility and reduce costs, last year we removed inpatient charges for children and this year we are removing them for adults. We are also widening the eligibility for the GP card which will allow many thousands more people to attend their GP without incurring fees. The drug payment scheme threshold was reduced to €80 from 1 March 2022, which means no household has to pay more than €80 per month for its medicines. Additional eligibility initiatives include access to IVF treatments, the expansion of the entitlement to free contraception to women aged 26 to 30, a €5 million fund for oral healthcare, and free home sexually transmitted infection, STI, testing.

Our health service has its challenges - all health services do - and this was particularly evident during the winter period. However, our health system has responded and expanded dramatically in recent years. We are treating more people with better outcomes than ever before. Our life expectancy is continuing to rise and is now estimated to be the highest in the European Union. We continue to reduce mortality rates for stroke and certain cancers and report positive trends in preventative health. We will continue to advance these reforms under Sláintecare in 2023.

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