Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for being present to listen to the few of us who are present at the moment. Parts of the Bill are good but I worry about other parts. Many families in the country are in distress with their mortgages currently and are afraid of more money being required by them to buy insurance. If they are struggling at the moment, they will struggle even more if we try to put more burdens on them. Before we impose charges on people to buy their own insurance, we must examine the procedures involved.

3 o’clock

I have health insurance. A few years ago, a day procedure was not covered by health insurance but if one spent a few hours in a bed at night that stay was covered. A root and branch analysis is required of how costs can be cut and how efficiencies in the system can be implemented. For example, there is a need to deal with the cost of medicines in order to bring that cost down.

Deputy Finian McGrath informed the House in his contribution that 250,000 have dropped out of health insurance cover for the simple reason that between 2008 and to date, people did not have the money. People with young families who cannot afford to pay that bill will not pay it and they will hope for the best that they will not need the cover.

I am thinking about a young person in Roscommon, Leitrim or Ballinasloe who knows that the accident and emergency department in Roscommon is closed and there is speculation that Ballinasloe will be downgraded to a 12-hour accident and emergency department. I ask the Minister what is the buy-in for the people in those areas.

The recruitment of consultants and junior doctors is a concern. I offer a constructive suggestion to the Minister. If young people entering college are prepared to commit to working in the country for five years, I suggest that the Government would waive their college fees. This could apply to doctors and nurses as a carrot to dangle in front of them to keep them in this country. If we struggle to replace consultants and junior doctors. then we are in trouble and it is becoming a significant problem in many parts of the country.

People with disabilities need to be helped. I refer to cuts in funding for Ability West and the services run by the Brothers of Charity. We have to deal with the situation whereby a person in one part of Ireland is three minutes away from an accident and emergency department and another person is two hours away from that service. We need to be upfront and honest with people. The health service needs a radical overhaul because, in my view, we are going nowhere. The system is in chaos with elderly people currently waiting 15 to 20 weeks, a situation the Minister is endeavouring to address and this is appreciated. However, we cannot keep going from storm to storm because sooner or later the boat will sink in the sea.

I am not critical of the Bill because it contains some satisfactory provisions but we need to show the people a clear way forward. We are spending money educating medical and nursing students but once they have graduated they take a one-way flight. We need to invest in those people, to dangle the carrot in front of them. We need to be pound wise in this regard for the future. If we do not tackle that problem I foresee that it will be difficult to fill vacancies and it is a no-brainer that the health service will not work. I hope the Minister will take note of some of my suggestions.

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