Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

In his response the Taoiseach indicated he did not understand why people would have ideological objections to the current two-tier public-private care delivery systems within our acute hospital network. I certainly do. I do not only object to it in ideological terms because it perpetuates inequality of treatment and care provision on the basis of ability to pay, which is the wrong basis. Would the Taoiseach not accept that it should be on the basis of need alone? We will clearly differ on the matter and I will not dwell on it.

I ask the Taoiseach to note that a number of vacant beds have been created within the public health care system by moving people out of longer-term care facilitation. However, instead of freeing up those beds for the need and demand that exists they have been closed. Yet, allegedly the raison d'être behind the co-location system was to free up beds in the public hospital system. Beds have been freed up in the public hospital system without the co-location situation presenting and yet they are not being made available and are being closed - some 1,000 of them.

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