The next stage of the Sláintecare health reform plans have been launched by Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly.
The implementation plan covers the period 2021-2023.
It plans for construction to begin on new elective hospitals in Cork, Dublin and Galway.
There is also a promise to roll-out the Sláintecare Consultant Contract, permitting public-only work in public hospitals.
Minister Donnelly said today that informal talks had started with representatives for consultants on these contracts.
The implementation plan also commits to delivering 31 new Primary Care Centres, creating a total of 173 around the country.
Mr Donnelly said the Government has committed an additional investment of €1.23 billion in Sláintecare initiatives in this year, with additional capacity being created within acute hospitals, community and social care.
Meanwhile, Co-leader of the Social Democrats, Róisín Shortall, said while she welcomes what appears to be a whole refocus on the Sláintecare reform programme, the roll out of the programme has been slow and its funding needs to be ringfenced to ensure it will happen.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Ms Shortall, who was chair of the cross-party committee that established the Slaintecare plan said €1.23 billion mentioned today by the Minister was provided for in the budget last October "so there's no new money there and this has been a problem with the funding of Sláintecare.
"Government commitment to the implementation of that plan should be combined with a commitment to ringfenced funding over that 10-year period and it's only when money is ringfenced and set aside for a reform plan, that we can be guaranteed that it will happen."
Ms Shortall said she hopes progress will be made over the coming weeks and months on plans to roll-out the Sláintecare Consultant Contract, permitting public-only work in public hospitals as she said it is an important element to separate the public and private sector.
She said she hopes plans to recruit 7,000 additional community healthcare staff is done at an early stage and it is not left to the end of the three-year period covered in the plan.
