Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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When is it proposed to take Report Stage?

Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail)
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Now.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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When is it proposed to take Fifth Stage?

Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail)
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Now.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Seanad for its support for this Bill and the Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Bill. We have had an important week in the Seanad for healthcare legislation. What we have just done is make hospitals free for everybody. The only charges left will be for emergency departments and minor injury units. This change is very important for individual patients and their families. It means that people who are sick and people who may have cancer or other illnesses to deal with who may not be able to work and may be struggling financially will not have a bill of up to €800 per year. That is important.

This measure is also important because it is a landmark moment for universal healthcare in our country. The Bill we are passing, which I hope to have enacted later this month, means that inpatient services in hospitals - when an adult or a child must stay overnight - are now fully funded by the State for the first time. It is a very important measure, which is part of a radical programme of reducing costs for patients. Earlier this year, we expanded the free contraception scheme for women up to the age of 26. Today, we are abolishing hospital charges for adults. Shortly, we will start to phase in more GP cards, which we hope to do for up to 500,000 men, women and children this year. That will be an important moment. It will mean that for the first time since the foundation of the State, well over half the population will have access to GP care fully funded by the State. It will make a big difference to people to be able to access care when they need it and not just when they feel they have the money to be able to afford it.

We have reduced the maximum amount families pay for medicines to €80 per month. Later this year, we will further expand the free contraception scheme to women up to the age of 30 and, subject to legal advice, I hope it will also be available to those aged 16. We want the scheme to cover those aged between 16 and 30 years. Later this year, we will also provide State funding for the first time for IVF treatment. This is part of a fundamental shift in reducing costs for patients.

I thank the patient advocacy groups, including the Irish Cancer Society, which have sought this measure for a very long time. There are three pillars to universal healthcare. First, care should be free or affordable, which is what today is about. Second, outcomes and experience need to be good for patients, which is what the patient safety Bill was about yesterday. Third, people need to be able to access care when they need it, which is our big focus in cutting waiting lists. That is working and ensuring that people do not languish on trolleys in emergency departments, which is a big focus this year. The Bill before us is one part of this.It is important in its own right but it is important symbolically as well that now for the first time, we have legislated through both Houses for all inpatient charges for children and now for adults to be completely abolished and funded by the State.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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I let the Minister have a few brief concluding remarks. Senator Murphy was the only Senator here at the time and I said I would let him in as well if he wants to make a very brief comment.

Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail)
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On behalf of my colleagues, I commend the Minister on the way he has handled this and made something really happen. This was not just an announcement. People said to me when it was initially announced that it would not happen. It has happened. I have met people in my clinics who say they cannot afford to go into hospital for three or four days, they do not have a medical card and so on and they do not have the €800. A lot of people do not want to ask a family member. This is really important. As it kicks in and people realise they do not have to pay this, they will be very happy. It is a good day. The Minister grasped this. We have challenges in the health system and he is doing his best. He has had a lot of roadblocks put in his way because of the way things worked out. He is making things happen. He is a reforming Minister. He is doing real things on the ground. This is a really good day and I am very proud of him. I am glad to be here with my colleagues to commend him for the work he has done. All the people in the advocacy groups and others have supported him as well.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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I remind Senators that we are not on Second Stage or any Stage. We have concluded but I am going to let people make brief comments in the order they have indicated.

Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the Bill. I made my comments yesterday so I am happy to park some of them.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister. It is good news in what is a difficult portfolio. The Minister has had his external critics and his own critics within his party. That is always a difficulty for a Minister. He was resolute; he stood at the job. The Tánaiste, Deputy Micheál Martin, stood by him, and that was clear. I have observed in the past few years that the Minister is tenacious. He does not mind criticism and he is robust enough to withstand it because criticism politically can be constructive. He listened to the advocates as he summed up in his own commentary about the importance of advocates. There is a lot more work to do in health and many more challenges. Hopefully, the Minister will have a good deal more time to roll out these reforms. Well done for sticking with it in difficult times internally and externally, from the Parliament and also out there in the greater place that is the challenges around public health.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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All I want to do is echo my two colleagues. This is a key component of the commitment in the programme for Government that the Minister has delivered. It is a phenomenal step forward in universal healthcare and implementing Sláintecare. It is going to make a genuine difference to people's lives. As Senator Murphy said, people are not going to debate whether to stay in hospital or discharge themselves because of money. Money is not going to be the issue and it should never be the issue. I agree with all of what Senator Boyhan has said about internal and external critics. Some of it is constructive while a lot of it is not. The Minister was reappointed last December and I am sure it was a very proud day for him. That spoke volumes about the work he is doing. Hopefully, as time moves on he will see the fruits of his enormous heavy lifting and the work he has done. Not alone is he in the most difficult brief in government but he also had it during the pandemic. He steered the ship out of the pandemic. I hope he will now see some of his reforms coming to light. This is a key reform.

Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael)
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I congratulate the Minister. This is a great day for so many groups. It is about universal healthcare and ensuring that Ireland has a system of healthcare that is for everyone and that is not limited. By removing that €80 charge up to €800, the Minister is making inpatient charges free. As he mentioned, the only charges that remain are emergency department and minor injuries unit charges. This is crucial legislation. Today is one of the really good days. There can be a lot of hard days. I welcome the other reform measures that are coming through as well. With all the Government support and funding in the budget the largest it has ever been, we are really seeing some key changes happening in health now that are going to benefit the country as a whole. It is great to see it.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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As Chair I have to be entirely impartial but if I was sitting in any of the other seats I would be saying what all the Senators are saying.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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I wish everybody a happy Easter. When is it proposed to sit again?

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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On Tuesday, 18 April at 12.30 p.m.