Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending. As they are aware, the purpose of this committee is to devise a single tier health service based on need rather than the ability to pay. I want to cover two areas, namely, privatisation and work practices. Mention was made earlier to frail elderly patients with multiple chronic conditions being consumers of the health budget. Nursing homes with a large number of frail elderly patients are not resourced to care for elderly patients who develop a deterioration in their illness. Consequently, they end up in casualty departments. In the same way, community services are poorly resourced in terms of home care packages and services, resulting in frail elderly people ending up unnecessarily in casualty departments. Is the privatisation of elderly care, both residential and community, going in the wrong direction? That is the way we are going; we are privatising it. Does that need to be reversed?

With regard to work practices, are there demarcation barriers within the health service unions which are inhibiting change? Is there room for reform and more flexibility in that regard?