Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Maidir leis na fíricí a nochtadh ar RTE ar an Luain, caithfear a rá go bhfuil córas sláinte na tíre seo ina chíor thuathail amach is amach. Ba chóir go mbeadh bainisteoirí an chórais ag deimhniú nach bhfull aon othar ag fulaingt, ach a mhalairt atá fíor mar go bhfuil an córas beag beann ar fhualaingt an othair.

Monday's "RTE Investigates" served as a harsh reminder of what we have known for so long: our health system is broken and remains broken. The problem is that not only the present Government but consecutive Governments continue to be reactive to problems by responding in a short-term way to the latest serious inadequacy, acting like a fire-fighting service endeavouring and struggling at times to put out the latest fire. What we need and what the people are crying out for is a more strategic approach that tackles effectively and permanently, for once and for all, huge inadequacies, gross managerial inefficiencies and glaring inequalities in access to services. The Government must work to strengthen the public health system to ensure it is sustainable into the future. This requires a radical new approach. Funding for primary and community care must be increased in order that acute hospital beds are kept for those with the most serious clinical needs. We need to increase rapidly the number of general practitioners, public health nurses and advanced nurse practitioners. I acknowledge this will require incentivisation as otherwise, many gifted nurses and doctors will continue to vote with their feet and turn to other counties for better job opportunities that incorporate a much better quality of work life. For too long they have been told they are doing a heroic job but at this stage, medical practitioners practising on the daily front line want more than our words. They want and deserve a managerial solution and the greatest tribute and meaningful gratitude one can pay the stakeholders is to deliver for them and for the patients real, competent, visionary management and to overhaul the system.

All the best international evidence tells us that a universal health care system is the most cost-effective model and it is that which we should move towards. Yes, delivering a proper, fair and efficient service may mean less or no tax reductions, at least in the short term, but that honest conversation must take place. If done fairly, taxpayers will recognise the need to prioritise improving such essential services over gimmicky tax breaks which are often born as meaningless pre-election promises. The public has a role in this regard, and one such role is to recognise cynical pre-election auction politics for what it is. It is the enemy of effectively overhauling and delivering a wide range of public services desperately needed in this country.

We need absolute transparency and accountability in our health system.

To begin with, fundamentally, the people deserve to know the truth. We need to be provided with an honest and accurate picture of the state of our public health services. There must be detailed analysis and breakdowns of current and future expenditure and information, justifying how funding decisions are made. Individuals who fail to deliver must be held accountable. That is what happens in a normal business but I challenge the Minister to name one person who has ever been held truly accountable for this ongoing saga, which tragically has real victims. Only in the past week. Mr. Fergal Hickey warned us that up to 350 patients will die as a result of capacity constraints in intensive care units in our hospitals. Is é bun agus barr an scéil na nach féidir linn brath ar an gcóras seo againne chun freastal orainn. Access to health care should not be a paid extra for some. Health is not an entitlement. It is a basic and fundamental right.

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