Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

She oversaw the creation of the HSE, a body I have already described on the floor of this Chamber as the quango from hell. There is no longer any democratic accountability for health policy and health care delivery. The Minister, Deputy Harney, has pursued a ruthless drive to centralise and privatise our health services. On top of this are the current HSE cutbacks which are attacking already overstretched and underresourced services and making patients suffer.

I deplore the proposal to retain Deputy Harney as health Minister, not because I bear ill-will towards her personally — I do not — but because her retention in that post signals a continuation of the disastrous policies fronted by this Minister.

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