Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I asked the Taoiseach to acknowledge that the public health system requires much greater investment. He ignored this. His response was peppered with saying this is not the way he would want it to be, that the Minister has dealt with these demands in part and that we need much greater levels of management. Then, without a sense of shame or embarrassment, he announced that today 300 citizens of the State are on trolleys. What sort of a Taoiseach is he that he can stand there like a commentator and give us this figure? It is the case that 300 citizens on trolleys as a direct result of Government policy. It is not an accident, but a direct result of what the Government is doing.

Last week, the Minister of Health said that CEOs of hospital groups should be allowed to transfer moneys from hospitals to private providers. He went on to say that hospital groups should be able to conduct business in the manner of semi-State companies "outside the constraints of public service rules". These are shocking and revealing comments, which highlight the ideological position of the Government which seeks ultimately to privatise our health services and leave patients at the mercy of a profit margin.

The silence of the Labour Party in the wake of the Thatcherite proposals from the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, is notable.

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