Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

What the Tánaiste has said emphasises what I said previously. He said that in the short to medium term we will move across to Sláintecare. I spent 11 months on Sláintecare. The Tánaiste would not be supporting the building of a new private hospital in Swords if he believed in what he said. We are practising health apartheid in this country as far as I am concerned. In his response the Tánaiste claimed to be implementing and supporting Sláintecare and that he is committed to it so let us test this theory. We know all complex medical cases are dealt with in the public health system, along with all major operations and all serious accident and emergency issues. Does the Tánaiste agree with me, on the record of the Dáil as a matter of fact, that the public health system has a much greater claim to enjoy the term "the most renowned specialists in the field of medicine in Ireland", as opposed to the private health system? Does he agree, and this would be a very important signal from the Government, that advertising by private hospitals needs to be regulated, if not banned, in the same way that we outlaw the advertising of prescription medicines directly to patients?

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