Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister for Health has been performing some extraordinary somersaults on Government health policy in recent times. This morning he was on "Morning Ireland" attempting to give the impression that the programme for Government was not as strong in terms of its commitment to universal health insurance as what was included in the Fine Gael manifesto in 2011. He also made comments to the effect that universal health insurance could not be introduced in one big bang. The programme for Government is emphatic and clear. It states, "[t]his Government will introduce Universal Health Insurance with equal access to care for all" and that "[a] system of Universal Health Insurance (UHI) will be introduced by 2016, with the legislative and organisational groundwork for the system complete within this Government’s term of office". On 9 March 2011, when introducing the Government's programme, the Taoiseach said, "In the vital area of health, we will introduce universal health insurance...." In case people will suggest the Labour Party had not signed up, the then Tánaiste, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, said on 2 April 2014 at the launch of the White Paper that in 2001 the Labour Party had been the first political party in Ireland to propose universal health insurance based on multiple insurers. The Labour Party was in favour of universal health insurance before Fine Gael. The introduction of universal health insurance was an explicit commitment on the part of both Fine Gael and the Labour Party and it is extraordinary that the Government has essentially wasted four years on a flawed policy based on a flawed model which it presented to the people.

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