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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 13, inclusive, together.

The Cabinet committee on health last met on 25 September and is currently scheduled to next meet on 23 October. The Cabinet committee on health oversees programme for Government commitments relating to health and receives detailed reports on identified policy areas. It considers the progress of health reforms, including Sláintecare, and the reform of disability services. The Cabinet committee also maintains an overview of public health.

In addition to attending meetings of the full Cabinet and Cabinet committees, I meet Ministers individually to focus on various issues. I meet the Minister for Health regularly to discuss progress and challenges in the area of health, including finance and the Sláintecare reform programme. We met as recently as yesterday. Sláintecare, which is happening with the support and oversight of the Department of the Taoiseach through the Cabinet committee on health, is about four main things: making healthcare more affordable; making healthcare more accessible; ensuring better outcomes for patients; and reforming and integrating our health service.

We are committed to expanding the core capacity of our acute hospitals, with more health professionals and more acute hospital beds. We have added more than 1,000 permanent beds since 2020. We have increased the total public health sector workforce by more than 22,500 since the beginning of 2020. This includes nearly 7,000 additional nurses and midwives, over 3,000 additional social care professionals and 2,500 additional doctors and dentists. There is a strong pipeline of capital projects, including several new hospitals and significant new facilities for existing hospitals.

Our multi-annual approach to waiting lists resulted in an overall reduction in the number of patients exceeding the Sláintecare maximum waiting times by 21% since the post-pandemic peak. This is at a time when waiting lists are growing in most other jurisdictions. The enhanced community care programme continues to improve healthcare at a more local level and alleviate pressure on hospitals and in more acute settings. The majority of community healthcare networks, community intervention teams and community support teams are now in place and providing care closer to home. Work is ongoing on the reconfiguration of the HSE organisational structures into six new health regions and the establishment of elective care centres in Dublin, Cork and Galway, as well as surgical hubs in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford in the interim.

We are making healthcare more affordable at a time when the cost-of-living crisis is affecting everyone. This is being done through the removal of hospital inpatient charges, wider eligibility for the GP card, which has now been extended to more than half the population, and a reduced drug payment scheme threshold, among other things.

Last week, the Government announced a €22.5 billion health budget that will facilitate the continued delivery and expansion of quality, affordable healthcare services. A separate €2.6 billion is being invested in disability services. This budget is being transferred from the Minister for Health to the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. Budget 2024 will provide €500 million for waiting lists, including the opening and staffing six new surgical hubs. The waiting list plan is fully funded. There will be a further expansion of the free contraception scheme to include women aged 31; increased funding for mental health by completing the staffing of child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, teams, if staff can be found; increased funding for digital health; the first full-year programme of publicly funded assisted human reproduction services, including IVF; over €36 million for surge measures to respond to periods of heightened demand in acute and community services; over €20 million in extra funding for disability residential services for adults and children to provide about 100 new residential places; €10 million for new respite services; and over €18 million for placements in adult day services for over 1,000 young people leaving school in 2024. The significant allocation also includes a health resilience fund to assist in responding to high inflation and increased patient demand among an expanding and ageing population.

Our health service has its challenges but it is responding and has expanded dramatically in recent years. We are treating more people with better outcomes than ever before. Our life expectancy is continuing to increase and is now well above the OECD average. We continue to reduce mortality rates for stroke and certain cancers and report positive trends in preventive health.

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