Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I asked the Minister, Deputy Harney, if had she assessed what impact her budget 2011 cuts will have on the accident and emergency situation and she told me she had not. I asked if her Department and the HSE had calculated how many public hospital beds will be closed as a result of the cuts in this subsequent years under the four-year plan which involves cuts to health of over €1.5 billion and she told me they had not.

Once again we are drifting towards further disasters in our health services. We have had three Ministers at the helm since 1997, including the current Taoiseach and his would-be successor as Fianna Fáil leader, Deputy Micheál Martin, and all have failed miserably. The VHI premium increases could not have come at a worse time for hard-pressed families, as was eloquently put on the record by another Deputy.

The health insurance market expanded during the so-called Celtic tiger years because many families with children who were aware of the perils of relying totally on the public hospital system took out personal health insurance. That market is now shrinking again as unemployment has increased and people's earning have decreased, resulting in many having to give up their health insurance. All of this points to the need for fundamental health reform.

Those who can afford to do so should be contributing to the provision of health care through fair taxation. In a new health care system there would no longer be a public-private divide and care would be available to all based on need alone and not on ability to pay. Sinn Féin has proposed the establishment of a health funding commission to plan the transition to such a fairer and more equitable system. I welcome a Fine Gael Deputy's earlier contribution which was eloquent and pertinent to all that is being considered.

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