Regarding the health reform Bill, some 412,000 people are waiting to see a consultant for the first time as outpatients. There is an increase in the number of people waiting on trolleys in accident and emergency units and the National Treatment Purchase Fund has announced major increases across all categories of people wanting to access appointments. In terms of the health reform Bill, we are not quite sure what reforms are being proposed. It was proposed to abolish HSE and have universal health insurance as the funding model for the health services in the years ahead. Does anyone know the kind of reform proposed? As late as yesterday, the Taoiseach told us there would be no supplementary budget even though the Minister for Health told me two weeks in advance that there would be a supplementary budget this year. Who is in charge of the health reform Bill? Does anyone know what is happening in health any more?

Regarding the Bill we spoke about on Leaders' Questions, when will it be brought before the Dáil? When will it be taken on Committee Stage? Will there be an opportunity for pre-legislative scrutiny to check this legislation and carry out broad consultation? Not everyone has welcomed the Bill. Many people have concerns about the proposed Bill and it has not been universally welcomed. The idea that the Government is being applauded for the Bill is not true. These are bully boy tactics and it offends many people. It puts people under huge pressure. The Tánaiste quoted Charles Dickens. The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, will go down not as the artful dodger but as the Bill Sykes, a bully boy when it comes to taking money from social welfare payments.

We are not discussing the details of the Bill.

I do not have a date for the health reform Bill but last year the Government gave significant extra resources to the Department of Health and the HSE and this year its budget increased significantly. Already, additional funding has been given to the Minister for Health in respect of specific areas discussed on previous occasions.

With regard to debt, the Department of Social Protection has a very well set out and well-established system in respect of the recovery of overpayments, which is protected by legislation in the consolidated Social Welfare Act. This limits the amount of money people can pay out of social welfare income, whether through the household budgeting system run through An Post or for any other purpose. The legislation is a cornerstone of how people on social welfare are protected. The legislation was worked on by the previous Government and since the current Government has been in office. It is a well-established system and I would not like the Deputy to frighten people. It is not in the best traditions of Fianna Fáil. We have a well-established system and the Department of Social Protection officials operate it up and down the country. They have done so for years and will continue to operate it.

The supplementary welfare allowance part of the social welfare system absolutely protects people's incomes where there are issues with debt. What I am saying in respect of the legislation is that we want to avoid a situation in which anyone has to get into debt, because I have seen the catastrophic consequences, particularly for working-class families, of allowing debts to build up. People are then faced with debts of hundreds of euro, which are incredibly difficult for them to meet, and a repayment system must be worked out to allow them to repay that over a long period. Without this reform, people with debts would have faced the risk of going to prison. There may be some people who do not like to see the end of that system, but the announcement has been strongly welcomed by various organisations.