Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House and commend him on his elevation to Cabinet. He is no longer the Joe Brolly of Irish politics; he is now the manager. The punditry is over and I wish him every success. As a former chairman of the Joint Committee on Health and Children, I assure him that the playing field is one he will be well able for.

I am struck by the revisionist comments made by some of my colleagues and friends in the House. I remind Members that it was the former Minister, Dr. James Reilly, under the Fine Gael-Labour Party Government, and the two Ministers for Health in the subsequent Government, Deputies Leo Varadkar and Simon Harris, who started us on the trajectory of universal health care. It was not just one party. The partitionist approach to politics around health always baffles me. This is about people, north, south, east and west, and accessibility. It is not about what is in the póca; it is about what we need to get done. That is what this Bill is about. It is about accessibility.

Previous speakers referred to the Minister's legacy. If he tackles the structural problems in the health service rather than taking a short-term, populist approach to trolley numbers or the latest crisis, he will leave an indelible mark on health.It is about what he is doing today, which is long-term prevention. It is about building capacity and measures that are taking on the vested interests in terms of real reform in our health service. Unlike others who commentated, at least the Minister had the courage to say that he wanted to be the Minister. He is now the Minister, and I commend him for that. Others will take the "We know everything but we will not go into government" approach, but health needs reform. When he was Fianna Fáil's spokesperson on health, he was cautious about this approach in terms of accessibility. He needs to continue to bring GPs and the medical community with him because as Senator Martin said, they are faoi bhrú - under pressure. Numbers attending GP practices are increasing. For once and for all, we need to tackle this time immemorial issue of our best and brightest students leaving this country. I chaired a health committee at a time when the then Minister, James Reilly, had a trajectory in terms of placement and jobs but we must make sure that we can put the structure of that in place.

I remind the Members in the House that last year's budget contained the highest health budget in the history of the State at €17 billion. That was put in place by the previous Government prior to the pandemic. It is now up to approximately €20 million.

I welcome the intergenerational aspect of this Bill in terms of the amendment that provides for an increase to the medical card income levels for persons aged 70 or older to €550 for a single person and €1,050 for a married couple. I welcome also the provision for access to GP care for every child under the age of 12. A Member mentioned earlier the extension of access to children under the age of six. That is a critical age group, and I welcome that. Every child needs access to healthcare. Early intervention is what we should be doing, whether it is in education or in health.

I have to be honest with the Minister. Like Senator Martin, I am sceptical about Sláintecare. I ask him to consider a constitutional convention or citizens' assembly to look at that issue away from this political amphitheatre.