Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 10, inclusive, together.

The Cabinet committee on health last met on 17 July and is due to meet again soon. The committee oversees implementation of programme for Government commitments in relation to health, receives detailed reports on identified policy areas and considers health reforms including Sláintecare, the reform of public health and health system preparedness for future health threats. It also receives reports in relation to programme for Government commitments in the areas of mental health and drugs policy. Sláintecare 2025+, our latest Sláintecare strategy published in May 2025, aims to forge the way forward towards accessible, affordable and high-quality healthcare for the people of Ireland when they need it and where they need it. We will deliver faster access to care. Funding of €420 million has been allocated for the waiting list action plan this year. The new regional structures within the HSE have been established, with six new health regions and 20 integrated healthcare areas. Health and social care services are planned and delivered around the specific needs of local populations, leading to better co-ordination of care and access to services. We will continue to review capacity in emergency departments, increase the number of public-only consultants in emergency medicine and ensure more senior staff are rostered in emergency departments during weekends and public holidays for better decision-making. We will continue to build our workforce through the recruitment of key roles, retention measures and additional college places for key disciplines. We will continue to invest in a healthier future, with a national physical activity framework and action plan due to be published in 2025 and a new obesity policy and action plan to be published in 2026. We are launching a new era of innovation and digital transformation in health. The national patient app has been rolled out. The national shared care record is being developed and the electronic health record will also be progressed. Additional projects which are key to the increased digitalisation of the health service include a national system for electronic prescribing and remote health monitoring and virtual care solutions.

In mental health, we will continue to build the mental health workforce and infrastructure and support community-based services. In older people’s services, we will support people to live at home within their own communities and strengthen the nursing home sector. The forthcoming national policy on adult safeguarding for the health and social care sector, a programme for Government commitment, will set out how existing protections will be strengthened. All of these commitments build on the investment and reforms undertaken over the past number of years, including the delivery of approximately 1,330 acute beds, an increased workforce of over 29,000 whole-time equivalents since December 2019, more affordable healthcare through a reduction in the drugs payment scheme threshold to €80, the removal of hospital inpatient charges, the extension of the eligibility for free GP cards for all children under eight and to all earning no more than the median income, State-funded IVF, free contraception for women aged 17 to 35 and free access to HRT. From September 2021 to the end of August 2025, there has been an almost 56% reduction in the number of patients waiting over 12 months. The surgical hub for south Dublin opened in February this year with additional hubs becoming operational in 2026. Care is being delivered closer to home in 180 primary care centres through 96 community health networks. Twenty-seven community specialist teams for older persons and 26 community specialist teams for chronic disease are now operational and 23 community intervention teams are operational, with national coverage secured. We will continue to invest and reform, changing the way our services are delivered this year and into the future

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