Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ar dtús, cuirim mo bhuíochas in iúl don Teachta Michael Harty as ucht an Bille tábhachtach seo a chur os ár gcomhair. Caithfimid bealach nua a fháil chun an fhadhb seo a réiteach.

Sinn Féin fully supports this Bill. It wants the right to health protection enshrined in the Constitution and, consequently, to have all future legislation framed with this fundamental right as the baseline. This debate is one of those occasions in this Chamber when we will learn a great deal about the Government's outlook on, and attitude to, healthcare provision. Who should it serve? Should it be public or private? At what point are a person's basic rights violated due to a lack of healthcare? Who would stand up, as a Minister, and deliver a speech arguing against a constitutionally-enshrined right to healthcare based on need? Has the Minister done so? We will have to go over his address again to be sure.

We have heard many arguments as to why this Bill will not work, among them that the Government may be open to legal challenges that may be time-consuming and costly. If the recommendations of the Sláintecare report were to be implemented in full, there would only be the remotest chance of a constitutional challenge from any citizen. If the goal of the Government was to achieve the very modest aims set out in the schedule of this Bill, the doomsday scenario of backlogs in courts and bureaucratic nightmares would dissipate like a puff of smoke.

The recent budget presented an opportunity for the Government to show that it is real about implementing Sláintecare. We now have an implementation plan and an office associated with it to ensure that key target dates are met. That is what we are told. The Government committed an additional 6.3% current funding for the health service which is far below the level of funding needed to deliver current services and any additional or new services scheduled to come on-stream. Sláintecare itself recommended that the current health budget needed to be increased by at least 7% per year.

The Minister for Health has stated his support for Sláintecare? Why, when everything appears to be in place, are targets not being met? What is missing? Is it political will? If that is the case, we need some mechanism stronger and more enduring than unchecked political goodwill. Put simply, this Government cannot be left to itself to implement a plan for universal access to healthcare.

My party colleague, Deputy Eoin Ó Broin, has tabled a Bill seeking a referendum to enshrine the right to a home in the Constitution. His motives for doing so were very similar to those of the proposers of this Bill. This was in response to ever-growing numbers of people and families homeless and with housing waiting lists increasing in every local authority area across the State. We also stated that this was not a silver bullet for housing. Similarly, tonight's Bill is not, and will not be, a panacea for our difficulties regarding healthcare capacity. The right to healthcare protection is denied to so many, especially in a timely way, and should rightly be seen as a failure of the State.

It is more distressing still when some of our youngest citizens are failed in this manner. Postponed and delayed surgeries and drug treatments have, in many cases, had lasting negative impacts on the lives of Irish children. As was referenced earlier, figures were released today that show the true picture of the numbers of children waiting to be seen. There are in the order of 86,000-plus children waiting to see a specialist in hospitals across the State, many for essential surgery. Some 46,000 of these are seeking access to services and procedures in the three main children's hospitals. I understand that postponing surgery is sometimes done due to how dangerous things have become in these hospitals for both patients and staff. However, cancelled surgeries will increase the numbers on these waiting lists, as well as the length of time that children have to wait.

Hospitals are crippled due to a lack of nurses and consultant doctors across a range of specialties. The unions representing front-line medical staff have been raising this issue for years but it has not been addressed. The Government has rolled out the usual lines, including that the flu is responsible for the pressure on hospitals; how often have we heard that? We have had eight years of Government led by Fine Gael, which has had control over the health services for all of that time with most recent four budgets agreed with Fine Gael's colleagues on the opposite side of the Chamber in Fianna Fáil. Despite that, we hear voices from both parties expressing surprise at the flu and winter-related illnesses arriving each winter. How can they keep saying that? It is absolutely pathetic.

A new departure is needed. Fianna Fáil cannot claim, as it did during Private Members' business last week, that it stands ready to take the radical action needed to safeguard the public health system. I, and many others, will never forget that the current Fianna Fáil leader and aspiring Taoiseach was the Minister for Health who dealt the deathly blow to services at the once proud Monaghan General Hospital. The people of Monaghan should never forget that fact.

If members of whatever political persuasion are serious about the need for a new dispensation in healthcare, they will vote in favour of the Bill. Let us see, and let the people see, where we all stand on this most fundamental issue. I, and my Sinn Féin colleagues, will give the Bill our wholehearted support.

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