I raise with the Tánaiste two issues regarding the health service, namely, the ongoing and now permanent crisis in the service and the implementation of the all-party Oireachtas report, Sláintecare. As we enter another winter period, the flaws in the public health services are being cruelly exposed. If there is a flu epidemic, the situation will be catastrophic. The Tánaiste will quote figures on extra funding, in particular, €2.9 billion for capital investment on infrastructure, additional beds, equipment and mental health over a ten-year period. I put it to him that this is not a solution but a sticking plaster which, given demographic factors, will barely maintain existing levels of care. This level of investment was called for in the Oireachtas report but was crucially linked to a €3 billion special fund to deliver Sláintecare over a six-year period. There was no mention of this special implementation fund in the health budgets of 2018 or 2019. A mere €20 million has been allocated for 2019 to be ring-fenced for the Sláintecare implementation programme. I put it to the Tánaiste that despite statements to the contrary and notwithstanding the appointment of Ms Laura Magahy, a capable health professional, to oversee the implementation programme, officials at a high level in the Department of Health are in charge of the process and will ensure that Sláintecare, if not quietly parked, will never be implemented as envisioned in the all-party report.

Actions speak louder than words. The Government's Sláintecare implementation strategy outlined earlier this year, while making all the right noises, is a step back from the Oireachtas report in terms of timelines and funding. There is no commitment to universal access. Expanding eligibility still involves means-testing, which is the opposite of universal access. The Government either does not understand what universalism is or does not want to understand it.

Does the Tánaiste agree that there is simply no political commitment or funding for Sláintecare, which will mean the continuation of a broken system that is not fit for purpose and fails to deliver the service the people deserve? It will also mean the continuation of the enormously stressful and poor working conditions experienced by those who work in the health service, particularly the front-line staff who were referred to earlier.

The Government is absolutely committed to the Sláintecare approach to reforming and changing the healthcare system for the better. The point of trying to get all-party agreement on the way forward was that this will take time and will involve a number of different Governments in its delivery. Whoever makes up those Governments, the fact that we now have all-party agreement on the way forward for health reform means, hopefully, that there will be consistency from Government to Government over a period of time. One of the big challenges in health reform has been that different Governments, on coming into office, have changed the policy approach to healthcare, which cannot be reformed in one election cycle. What we have now is an agreed approach to move towards universal health support and provision through Sláintecare and a series of other changes. Some changes will take time, while others can happen quickly.

In terms of the budgeting of healthcare, we have seen a significant increase in the availability of resources from this year to next year and in terms of expenditure since last year. Approximately €1.2 billion in extra funding will be provided next year. Nobody can question the Government commitment to funding a better health service. Nor should anyone question the Government's commitment to adhering to the Sláintecare model. That is the model we will follow. However, we cannot go from A to Z in one year or one budget cycle. This will take incremental change across multiple areas and the maintenance of a reasonable and decent health service through the transition period, which will be extremely challenging. It will deal with everything from increased skills and bed capacity to an increased emphasis on primary care to keep people out of hospital, increased home care and many other areas. We need to ensure the Sláintecare model of universal support ensures that people do not get health provision on the basis of their income levels but as a right or service that the Government wants to deliver through a new model of healthcare. This takes time but all of the trends and policy direction the Government is committing to at present are consistent with the Sláintecare approach.

The funding committed was already part of the Oireachtas Sláintecare report. What we were looking for was the extra front-loaded funding to implement Sláintecare over a period. It is all very well outlining various commitments but I would like the Tánaiste to respond on a number of key issues. The proposal in the Sláintecare report was that the implementation office would be completely independent of the Department of Health. The opposite has happened, which is a serious concern. The report called for the establishment of a national fund. That has not happened and there are no proposals for it happen. I ask the Tánaiste to respond.

The commitment to universal access will only become a real commitment with legislation which requires the Minister for Health to provide universal access to the public healthcare system at all levels. When will the Government introduce such legislation?

On the Deputy's final question, legislating for services and access to services for people is one thing but we must have the capacity to deliver them.

That is what the extra funding was for.

If the Deputy is suggesting that we should have found another €600 million or another €200 million or €300 million for healthcare, that would have had to come from somewhere else in the budget.

Take it from Apple.

This is a zero-sum game. Healthcare rightly continues to take a large portion of the overall budget. It has also rightly taken the lion's share of the increased capacity for expenditure because that is where investment is needed. The priority in expenditure should be health and housing but there are limits to what we can spend, even in an economy that is growing at the pace we are currently enjoying. This is a necessary step-by-step incremental improvement consistent with the Sláintecare model that we all have signed up to and that I hope will be continued by future Governments, regardless of whether they involve my party. That is the way we need to see the implementation of the Sláintecare model delivered. Asks need to be realistic, year on year, in terms of the amount of funding available. A significant amount of extra funding will be spent next year compared with this year and I also expect major increases in funding the following year. As we can afford to introduce incremental changes and improvements to healthcare, the Deputy will see them happen consistent with Sláintecare.