Some very clear promises and commitments were given in the programme for Government. They followed the promises that were made during the general election campaign. The programme for Government states:

Universal Primary Care will be introduced in phases so that additional doctors, nurses and other primary care professionals can be recruited .... Access to primary care without fees will be extended in the first year to claimants of free drugs under the Long-Term Illness scheme at a cost of €17 million. Access to primary care without fees will be extended in the second year to claimants of free drugs under the High-Tech Drugs scheme at a cost of €15 million. Access to subsidised care will be extended to all in the next phase. Access to care without fees will be extended to all in the final phase.

These promises and commitments were clearly given. Phase 1, which was to cover people on the long-term illness scheme, has not been delivered. Two deadlines were missed before it was abandoned altogether.

I am reminded of last year's debacle regarding the primary care centres. The then Minister of State, Deputy Shortall, said some fairly hard things about the commitment of the Minister, Deputy Reilly, to primary care. She has been proven correct. Even though she was forced out of office, she knew what she was doing in terms of delivering primary care. She did not get any support from the Minister, the Taoiseach or her colleagues at the Cabinet table at the time. She was forced out of office for calling it right on that occasion. Her suggestion that the senior Minister had taken the money and used it for other purposes across the health services was quickly rejected by the Minister, Deputy Reilly. His response on 8 October 2012 was to say "No, the money is there and it [the scheme] will be brought in before the end of this year, absolutely".

Absolutely.

It is clear that he was not telling the truth.

He must have been on a lorry.

No legislation has been published. No talks with the IMO about the contracts have been initiated. There has been no delivery of the promises.

Calamity James.

Why did the Government make promises again and again and again on this issue?

To get votes.

It made those promises only to break them again and again. The Labour Party is still facilitating this-----

Where are they?

-----by providing cover to the Minister, Deputy Reilly, and the Government.

Now, the Minister of State, Deputy White, we have been told, is wandering the offices of Government Buildings with instructions to go and do research on other strategies.

The Deputy's time is up.

With the health insurance system falling into disarray, waiting lists going up and this debacle with free GP care, what actually has to happen for the Taoiseach to realise what his Cabinet colleagues privately acknowledge and what the rest of the country has known and understood for quite some time, namely, that the Minister, Deputy James Reilly, is not the man to lead one of the most important Departments in this country?

Calamity James.

Broken promises.

Deputy Martin reminds me of what he said himself many years ago, which is that it takes longer to get things off the ground in health than in any other Department. He is quite right.

The Minister, Deputy Reilly, is firmly on the ground.

He is digging a hole for himself.

I saw the story this morning about free GP care for those with long-term illness. The Minister of State, Deputy White, is dealing with this matter very effectively.

He is ignoring the promises.

It is all the Labour Party's fault.

Actually, what the Minister of State has done here is to look at the situation and, if one likes, take a stocktaking view of what has happened and needs to happen. It is important to say to Deputy Martin that the Government is fully committed to delivering free GP care in its first term of office, as set out in the programme for Government. No decision has been taken to go back on that. It is important to remember that, ultimately, the entire population will be covered by a free GP service.

When the Minister of State, Deputy White, came before the Cabinet sub-committee dealing with health recently, he pointed out that it will be necessary to introduce complex legislation to provide free GP care to those with long-term illness.

It has been two and a half years.

The Government has the same legal adviser now as it had two and a half years ago.

Would the Deputies mind?

The Minister of State made a very valid point. He pointed out that the legislation that would be required to deal with free GP care for persons with long-term illness would obviously have to have a legal basis for eligibility-----

Most legislation does.

-----and that eligibility was based principally upon means, that is, income and residency. The legal framework for eligibility under the first phase of free GP care would be based on a medical condition-----

That is the logarithmical progression.

-----and that first phase would require a new legal and administrative arrangement setting up doctors panels for assessment of eligibility of the persons with long-term illness in the first place.

All very complex.

What the Minister of State, Deputy White, pointed out was-----

Where is the Minister, Deputy Reilly, in all of this?

-----that he would be far more effective in looking at the longer strategy in implementing the roll-out of free GP care beyond just that sector dealing with long-term illness, because one would have to set up a bureaucracy to deal with the assessment and requirement for determining eligibility for GP care for persons with long-term illness.

He is fairly good at getting rid of those.

He said he wanted six weeks to look at the entire scheme and that he would report back by the end of May. What he has validly pointed out is that it is not effective to put in place a legal, administrative, bureaucratic assessment-----

Why did he make the promise?

----- for free GP care for a sector with long-term illness and then have to move on to the other sectors. He said he wanted to look at the entire scheme, and I support him in that.

What about the Minister, Deputy Reilly?

He will report back to the Cabinet sub-committee by the end of this month with a view on the longer-term, more effective and less administratively costly roll-out of free GP care, which is ultimately to cover the entire population.

What about the Minister?

The story I read today in the national newspaper is, in the main, accurate but it does not say what the Government has not done here - the Government has not made a decision to end free GP care. What the Government has done is authorise the Minister of State, Deputy White, at his request, to look at the longer view-----

He is getting thrown to the wolves.

Deputy Dooley is talking through his hat.

-----and a more effective appraisal of the entire scheme, rather than focus on legislation dealing with one sector which would require a legal base, an administrative set-up, a bureaucratic system and panels of doctors for assessment of eligibility on medical grounds for those who would be covered. I support him in this.

I support him in this.

He is finished, so. It is all over.

Would you ever stay quiet, please?

It is a valid stocktaking exercise by a Minister who is taking into account the longer scheme.

I do not know why Members ask a question and then do not listen to the answer.

If we got an answer, we would be all ears.

Some Deputies in the Chamber would like to hear the answer, not the mumbling that goes on in the background.

The mumbling is all from the other side.

Would you, please, allow Deputy Martin to ask a supplementary question and we will then have an uninterrupted reply from the Taoiseach?

I have some sympathy with my colleagues on this occasion, a Cheann Comhairle, and I agree 100% with you.

I do not agree with them and I happen to be in the Chair.

I know you do not. The response is very much that sort of "logistical, logarithmic progression" or regression mentioned when the Minister, Deputy Reilly, was before the House to deal with primary care centres. That is an extraordinary reply from the Taoiseach. I commend him on managing to give a reply to a question on the Minister, Deputy Reilly's suitability to lead the Department of Health without once mentioning the Minister, Deputy Reilly, in his reply. He mentioned the Minister of State, Deputy White, about 15 times.

The Minister of State, Deputy White, is now saying it is very complex and that he has to consider the legislation governing eligibility and so on. Again, I must remind the Taoiseach what the Minister, Deputy Reilly, said last October in response to the former Minister of State, Deputy Shortall. She called this last year for the Taoiseach and the rest of the Cabinet when she said there was no commitment to the primary care commitments in the programme for Government. She was forced out of office and she got no support. In response to that, the Minister, Deputy Reilly, said in October "No, the money is there and it will be brought in before the end of this year, absolutely". There was nothing about complexity or eligibility difficulties.

Could we have your supplementary question, please?

He made that promise about five or six times in the last two years. He has been questioned repeatedly by journalists and by Opposition spokespeople, including Deputy Kelleher, Deputy Ó Caoláin and others, in regard to the progression of this particular commitment and the promise that was made. Up to very recently, he was denying all comments or statements to the effect that this would not be delivered and would not go ahead. Now, the Taoiseach is saying the Minister of State, Deputy White, has taken charge of the whole debacle and that he is dealing with it effectively. Dealing with it effectively, in the words of the Taoiseach, means, two and a half years on, that 56,000 people who were on the long-term illness scheme and who thought they were going to have free GP care in the first year of this Government are now being told that, for them, it has been abandoned - that particular commitment has been abandoned and will not proceed. That is how the Taoiseach describes and defines dealing effectively with a promise solemnly made by him and the Minister, Deputy Reilly. I repeat the question I asked the Taoiseach and which he avoided. What has to happen for the Taoiseach to realise what his colleagues privately acknowledge and the rest of the country has understood for quite some time now, which is that the Minister, Deputy Reilly, is not the man to lead the Department of Health?

Deputy Martin makes a comment and asks a question.

That is how it works.

The Minister of State, Deputy Alex White, is dealing with the area of primary care.

We are back to the Minister of State, Deputy White.

His appointment to that Department has allowed him to focus on an element of the scheme for the introduction of free GP care for persons with long-term illness.

Is the Taoiseach calling into question what Deputy Shortall did?

The Minister of State, Deputy White, quite rightly looked at the requirement for legislation in that area to deal with eligibility on medical grounds-----

It was promised two years ago.

-----and to deal with the administrative requirement to assess those patients. Previously, they have been assessed on income and on residency. In the long-term free GP care scheme, it will be based on medical assessment and medical grounds. The Minister of State, Deputy White, reported officially and formally to the Cabinet sub-committee that to do it piecemeal is not the way to do it and that he wanted to look at the entire scheme. He wanted six weeks to come back to the Cabinet sub-committee and say whether he was able to do this more effectively for the entire scheme and progress it more effectively. We gave him that authorisation and he will come back and report on his view of how it can be done more effectively.

Let me assure Deputy Martin, and the 56,000 people he refers to, that there is no question of the Government abandoning its commitment in the programme for Government to free GP care for these citizens and, ultimately, for the entire cohort of the population.

In respect of Deputy Martin's question about the Minister, Deputy Reilly, he is the Minister for Health and he has my full support in the strategy and the changes that are necessary to bring about a more effective health service. As Deputy Martin rightly pointed out when he had that responsibility, it takes longer to get things done in the Department of Health than anywhere else.

The Minister is focused on the requirement to change structures and the effectiveness of delivery of services in the Department. Primary care is a central element and being handled very effectively by the Minister of State, Deputy Alex White.

The Taoiseach's loyalty to the Minister is commendable, but he must know in his heart of hearts that his stewardship of the Department of Health has been an unmitigated disaster for citizens. Two issues emerge from the latest U-turn. One relates to citizens with long-term illnesses who have been let down by the Government, while the other relates to how the Dáil comes to hear about these matters. Teachta Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin has regularly asked the Minister about this issue, as have others. I have asked the Taoiseach about it numerous times in the past two years and he has told me that it is just a matter of time, that it will happen very soon. It is not credible that it took two years to discover these legal difficulties. What are the difficulties? We heard yesterday about the thousands of patients waiting four years for outpatient appointments. The issue of free GP care was the subject of a separate commitment from the Labour Party and Fine Gael before they even got to the programme for Government. It has been axed. People have been on waiting lists for four years. Clearly, there is an issue with the Minister. The Taoiseach clearly promised a universal, single-tier health service, guaranteeing access to medical care based on need. The cornerstone of that commitment was free GP care. Instead, we have a continuation of the two-tier system the Government inherited from Fianna Fáil. The Government has not even got past the first step in meeting this commitment to have a single-tier, universal health service. I understand the Minister of State is not answerable to the Dáil. It is the Minister for Health's responsibility. Will the Taoiseach spell out the steps he will take between now and the time people will have a chance to vote again to look after citizens with long-term illnesses and others who are in the high tech drug scheme and dependent on this type of support from the State? We should not have to wait to read about it in the newspapers. He should spell out now what steps the Government will take. As the Cabinet sub-committee on health dealt with this issue, it is a governmental responsibility. The Taoiseach is bound to know what steps he has in mind. Therefore, he should tell us.

I have already pointed out to the Deputy that the programme for Government sets out the steps that the Government will take across all Departments to rectify the public finances, sort out the problems we inherited and get the country back to work. I am the first to admit that there are a number of items in the programme for Government that have proved not to be deliverable, but this is not one of them. The Government has not made any decision to go back on the commitment to provide free GP care for citizens - those with long-term illnesses and, ultimately, the entire cohort of the people.

What I am saying to the Deputy is that the Minister of State is a lawyer and that he could see from looking at the structure in place that this would cause complex legal problems. He decided against getting involved in that jungle, focusing on it for a couple of months and bringing forward a service for 56,000 people that would require a legal base and teams to assess eligible candidates for assistance with long-term illnesses based on medical grounds, rather than residency and income, in the knowledge that he would need to move beyond that sector to others. I support him fully in that regard. It is right to say I want to look at the entire structure, my options and proposals on how we can do this more effectively in the interests of the people.

I have no idea how things find their way into the media. Sometimes, as Members know, they are sent deliberately, while at other times, they are fed by different people. I do not have any great interest in it, except to tell the Deputy, as I told Deputy Micheál Martin, that most of the story I read this morning - I did read it - is accurate, but the piece that is missing is that the Government has not made any decision to reverse its commitment in the programme for Government to provide free GP care. I support the Minister of State very strongly in that regard. Based on his legal background and knowledge of where it could lead in terms of administrative complexity, he is right to say he wants to report back to the committee by the end of May with a far more effective proposition on how to implement this commitment. It is about people, but it is also about delivering an effective and cost-effective system of best patient care under the proposals made. That commitment stands and will be delivered on, but it will be delivered on by a Minister of State who could see legal quagmires in the structure in place and who wants to change it and make recommendations to make it better.

The rub is that if the story was not in The Irish Times, we would not be having this conversation. Health spokespersons or spokespersons for the Opposition would stand up here and ask questions, only to be told that it would happen by the end of the year or before the summer. It would be difficult for the Taoiseach to say the Government had made a hames of it, but that is what has happened. The Government has had two years to sort this out. This relates to people with cancer, asthma, obesity and other long-term illnesses. What has happened to the money? I asked the Taoiseach yesterday about the money allocated for mental health care services and he promised to send me the figures. The figure was €35 million, but I am still waiting for the figures. What happened to the money allocated for this scheme? It was envisaged that extending it to those with long-term illnesses would cost €17 million. The Taoiseach did not answer my question about the legal difficulties arising and did not spell out what would happen in the meantime. In six weeks' time the House will go into recess and before we know it, the year will be over and the people in question will still be in dire straits. Why does the Taoiseach not spell out the steps he will take in the meantime?

Returning to the issue of the Minister, this is not personal. Of course, it is one of the most challenging Departments any Minister or Government could deal with. However, the Taoiseach must admit, if not here, then in his heart of hearts, that the Minister is making a complete mess of the commitments Fine Gael and the Labour Party were elected to fulfil. He should admit that he needs a new Minister and that we need a health system that works for citizens.

Now we know how the Dáil hears news because the Deputy has just announced that the summer recess will commence in six weeks.

Generally speaking.

Therefore, the Deputy only speaks in generalities.

Talk about the issue, please.

I will talk about it. I thank the Deputy for a premature announcement of the summer recess. Had he tabled a question without any story in the national newspapers or anywhere else, the answer would have been that the Minister of State was considering a number of other proposals to make the structure more effective. I would have told the Deputy the truth, namely, that the Minister of State would report back to the Cabinet sub-committee at the end of May with his very valid proposition that we could do this but that it would be administratively and legally complex, involving the setting up of panels of doctors to assess patients and the expending of much energy for a cohort of 56,000 people who were very important, without dealing with what would happen in the longer term. I support him fully in that regard.

I am sorry the Deputy did not receive the figures sought. I do not know whether it involved Pony Express or Wells Fargo, but the figures left the office and are somewhere between it and the Deputy's office. When he receives them, he will find that they are perfectly valid.

The important question is where did the money go.

I call Deputy McGrath.

The Deputy is a fair man to ask that question.

Is your name Deputy McGrath? Deputy McGrath is up here.

Unfortunately, there is one up there too.

A new Sir Alex Ferguson.