Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not accept that at all because it has been suggested to me that it is more economical to park patients in corridors and waiting areas and to close wards at the same time. I do not accept that. I think it is far more effective, efficient and comfortable for everybody, both those working in the system and those in receipt of services from the system, to at least have the wards open so that if patients are waiting for long periods, they can at least be in an area other than the reception area or whatever the case may be. I hate to be argumentative but I am not afraid to be argumentative either and there are times when it is necessary. We have reached that time now. We have a serious problem with how we run the system. We have asked for audits and experts and have had all sorts of things said to us in the past few years. I am not an expert but I am reasonably good with time and motion and I am not satisfied with the way the system is working and running now. It is not efficient or effective in delivering speedy access from the public's point of view, and it is expensive relative to the degree to which that service is being made available to the public.

If everybody continues to criticise the system itself, there will be no system because there will be no job satisfaction. Nobody will want to work in it. Nobody wants to work in a general practitioner, GP, practice any more because it might close down. Nobody will want to work in a small hospital any more and the standards will drop as a result. All of these things have been tried in other jurisdictions, for example in the United Kingdom. It has already failed there. The time has come to look closely at how we deliver on the basis of the money and the expectation arising from it. We are not the worst with regard to cost in the OECD countries.