Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Last week, I raised the crisis regarding hospital trolleys and the health service with the Minister. I want to differentiate between the personal and political. Sometimes we have to do that in this game. This is not a perennial problem. Rather, it is a systematic problem with our health service. Unfortunately, our health service is quite sick. The reason for this is neglect. The reason the health service has been neglected is because, in the past eight years, the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil parties have made political choices that have resulted in the health service being in a state of constant crisis. It does not have to be like this. The "RTE Investigates" programme broadcast on Monday night was horrendous. It was an embarrassment to be a Member of this Parliament watching people suffer needlessly. While the programme is imprinted on our minds, it will be largely forgotten. What will not be forgotten is the reality of what people have to face.

Statistics relating to the health service make for difficult reading for the Minister and for any Member who wants a decent society. In January, at the height of the problem, 612 people were on hospital trolleys. Yesterday, over 500 people were on hospital trolleys. According to the European health consumer index, Ireland has the longest waiting times for CT scans and minor operations and is the worst of 36 countries for ease of access to health care. Since 2008, due to Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, 1,600 beds were lost in the health service. Health staff are overworked, underpaid and constantly battling with staff shortages, while morale has hit rock bottom. Patients wait years for surgery, as was seen on the recent RTE programme. This is absolutely unacceptable in 21st century Ireland. It is the same for waiting times for speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy. The list goes on.

This is because of the two-tier health system. The NTPF just sells public patients to the private sector. It does not go any way in trying to address the fundamental issues in our health service. There is obviously something wrong. The Minister stated €14.5 billion is spent annually on the health service, a significant amount of money. According to the OECD, Ireland spends the third most on health services in the OECD. Why can we not get it right? The onus is on the Minister's party to address these issues. I am not blaming the Minister but it is up to him to address these issues.

Ultimately, what we want to see is a universal health care system that is not a two-tier system in which if a person has money, he or she can jump the queue. In a civilised society, which we all live in, it should not be the case. It should be universal, funded through central taxation, where people on the point of care should get access to health care not because of the depths of their pockets. Waiting times are an absolute scandal in this country. I am asking the Minister to put his reputation on the line and say, like previous Ministers, the trolley crisis and waiting times are absolutely unacceptable and to give a commitment that if the same thing is happening this time next year, he will resign.

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