Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)

Deputy Fiona O'Malley is correct in saying that we need somebody who will manage the health service efficiently and it certainly is not the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney. A year after coming into office and having said there is a crisis, she is now trying to address it and state all sorts of platitudes before the general election in the hope of getting back in to office again.

If the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children had her way the health service would be privatised and hardly anything would be left except for the dregs to cater for the poorest of the poor. That is the way it is going. We need a state-of-the-art, publicly funded health service which is able to provide the capacity needed.

My colleagues, Deputies Gormley and Sargent, have referred to the mess in the health service. In the short time available, I want to point to a number of examples. On 19 April last, a constituent of mine was brought into St. James's Hospital with severe triple vessel coronary disease. He was told he would be looked after but, because it happened to be the Easter period, he was discharged. He now must wait three to four weeks for an operation. He could be dead within that three to four weeks and if that is the case, it is the responsibility not only of the hospital but of the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children and the Health Service Executive because ultimately it boils down to the resources being invested in the service. One can plan all one wants but it will not happen unless the resources are provided to back that up.

There is scope for investing cleverly. The Green Party has constantly spoken of the need for a three-tier health care system whereby one deals with the situation at local level first before going to accident and emergency. There are a number of well-run 24-hour private clinics. There are very few public ones. One could provide more public clinics where there would be a rostered general practitioner who is properly paid for his or her services, a registered general nurse and a certain basic modicum of facilities before a person would be sent to accident and emergency. At present, people still appear at accident and emergency units rather than go to their general practitioner. Others who go to general practitioners are still being told to go to accident and emergency. Surely there is a need for a middle tier where if somebody falls down when he or she is drunk and needs stitches, he or she can get them in a local 24-hour clinic.

I have used the following example previously, although I am not sure whether I used it in this Chamber. Being a GAA and soccer enthusiast, I got a stud through my toe a couple of years ago. It caused a little bruising and swelled up and I ended up going into St. James's Hospital because it happened in the evening. I spent eight hours there. Eventually, I was seen by a nurse who took a paper clip, heated it under a Bunsen burner and stuck it into my toe providing instant, if painful, relief. Why must a person go to a major hospital to get a paper clip stuck through his or her toe? That sort of basic service could be provided locally. If we started planning a regional and community-wide network of local tertiary treatment centres in the first instance, it would save the taxpayer money and ease some of the pressure on the accident and emergency departments.

See this speech in context