Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the 12 Senators for their contributions. Beginning with Senator Ardagh's points, the Government has significantly increased the health budget by €1.7 billion since 2013.I find the Senator's remarks amusing given the record of her beloved party leader and Mary Harney in the Department of Health. They rarely, if ever, balanced the books in that Department. I recall we had supplementary budgets year-on-year at a time when the country had plenty of money. I agree with the Senator that it is important that we invest and that we maintain a service that will deliver outcomes for patients. This is about improving access, building capacity, investing in physical infrastructure and also recruitment, a new general practitioner contract and the delivery of Sláintecare, which will be transformational in reforming our health system.

I remind Senator Ardagh that since the Fine Gael Party came into government, in the first instance with the Labour Party and now as a minority Government, 120 primary care centres have been opened, 12 of them this year, with seven more to come. The Government is investing and reinvesting in our health service, be that in terms of recruitment, physical infrastructure or otherwise, and it will continue its record of investing in our health care system.

Senators Boyhan, Bacik, Lawlor, Horkan, O'Reilly and Feighan welcomed the appointment today of the new Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris. I join Members of the House in wishing him well in his appointment. He comes with a 35-year record of policing service in the North as Deputy Chief Constable of the PSNI. This is an external appointment from an international selection process at a time when we need to see major reform of An Garda Síochána and the culture therein changed. In tandem with this appointment the Government has committed to investment in An Garda Síochána in terms of recruitment and the provision of new equipment. I thank the acting Garda Commissioner, Dónall Ó Cualáin, for his steady hand in the interim. This is the third Garda Commissioner since 2004. I hope Mr. Harris's five-year appointment will be productive. As Leader of the House, I wish him every success.

Senators Boyhan, Bacik and Marie-Louise O'Donnell raised the issue of the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill in the context of the GRECO report. The Bill will be returned to the schedule next week. It was withdrawn this week to allow members to submit amendments. I will engage further with Senator Bacik on the matter. I hope the Minister can engage on the Bill with Members on all sides of the House.