Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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94. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if his Department has evaluated the full costings over the ten-year timeframe provided in the Sláintecare report; his views on whether the costings (details supplied) are accurate for the purposes of implementing the recommendations in the report; the percentage of GDP and GNI modified gross national income public health expenditure would incur if the Sláintecare proposals were implemented in full; if the measures had been in place in 2017 at the time of the publication of the report, the proportion of GDP and GNI modified gross national income that would have been incurred by public health expenditure at that time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49570/19]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Sláintecare report estimated that the full year cost (by year 10 of a 10-year programme) of implementing all the measures recommended in the report is €2.836 billion. In addition, the all-party Oireachtas Committee recommended that transitional funding of €3 billion over a six-year period would also be required to deliver the Committee’s proposals.  The Committee acknowledged the report that these costings are indicative only.  The Government decided, following the publication of the Report in 2017, that implementation of the Sláintecare proposals, and consequently any evaluation and updating of the indicative cost estimations contained in the original Sláintecare report, are a matter for the Minister for Health in the first instance.

As the Deputy may know, substantial elements of the Sláintecare Report are in progress and are aligned with initiatives currently underway across the Health sector.  In this context, the Sláintecare Implementation Strategy was published in August 2018.  The Implementation Strategy sets out the actions to be taken in the first three years of the Sláintecare implementation process.  It will be further developed into annual action plans, as reform progresses, and the implementation structures are in place with the first Action Plan published.  As these action plans are developed policy proposals will be put forward and, as usual, will be subject to review and examination in my Department with up-to-date cost estimates being developed and evaluated in that context.