Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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160. To ask the Minister for Health if remarks made by the former Minister for Health in 2015 that a system of universal health insurance is still the preferred model to achieve universal healthcare remains Government policy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31591/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Government’s ongoing programme of health reform, is intended to put in place the building blocks towards universal healthcare, where all people can access the health services they need, of sufficient quality to be effective, while ensuring that the use of these services does not expose them to financial hardship.

As the Deputy may be aware, the costing reports detailing the estimated cost of the previously proposed UHI model were published on the 18 November 2015. Having considered the findings, it was concluded that the high costs associated with the White Paper model of UHI were not acceptable and it was decided that further research and cost modelling in relation to the best means to achieve universal healthcare were needed.

When I became the Minister for Health, I also emphasised both my commitment to progressing health reform and my determination to push ahead with the key building blocks for improving the health services: Healthy Ireland and the public health agenda, building sufficient capacity to satisfy unmet demand, the expansion and development of primary and social care and reforming structures, ICT and financial systems with key initiatives such as the phased extension of GP care without fees, the establishment of Hospital Groups and Community Healthcare Organisations, the implementation of activity-based funding and the improved management of chronic diseases.

My Department is currently undertaking a national capacity review of the health sector in order to determine future needs of the health sector in Ireland. This review is the result of the commitment in the Programme for a Partnership Government. Further to this, the Committee on the Future of Healthcare report, the recent publication of which I welcome, has recommended a universal single-tier public health system. I am currently developing a response to this report.

These are all significant milestones on the road to universal healthcare and have the potential to drive performance improvement and deliver significant benefits in terms of timely access to high quality care.