Ann Graves (Dublin Fingal East, Sinn Fein)

In this State, we have a two-tier health system and it is clearly highlighted in the Bill. The lack of a universal healthcare system free at the point of delivery has created a private market for healthcare. Removing private healthcare from public hospitals is an important and necessary development. It will reduce the dependency on private healthcare but it demands that the Department step up to the challenge and increase the public capacity. It is unacceptable that access to healthcare depends on the ability to pay. Many households see health insurance as a necessity because they can no longer rely on a broken system propped up by broken promises. Waiting lists are too long. There are 300,000 people waiting on scans and more that 40,000 have been waiting over 18 months.

My office in Swords is inundated with constituents looking for assistance for the most basic medical needs. A woman contacted me looking for help. She is distraught. Her son is on a waiting list for occupational therapy. The waiting list for her son is 55 months. This is a disgrace. The blame for this waiting list lies with the Government. A man from Malahide in his late 80s has been in hospital for over a year. He needs to be at home with appropriate care. A hospital is totally inappropriate for his needs. Unfortunately, the respite centre wants to send him home with an inadequate care package. He was offered additional hours and subsequently told that this was a mistake. This man has worked his entire life, helped build this country and paid his taxes and the least he can expect is to be given care in his time of need. In a case involving another family, the son has a disability and is waiting for an operation. The wait for the operation has been so long and his health has deteriorated so badly that he has since had to give up employment. These are just a few examples of the struggles families have to deal with to access healthcare in one of wealthiest economies in the world.

Consecutive governments have implemented polices that have made the situation worse for people. Health policy has been driven by a system that views healthcare as a commodity that can be bought and sold in the free market. Government should be aiming to develop a public health care system that removes the need for any citizen to spend their hard-earned income on private insurance.

The facts are a damning indictment, in that 2.53 million people, which is almost half the population, are covered by private health insurance. They are paying out a massive €2.5 billion every year in premiums and now they are facing increased costs. The healthcare model being pursued by the Government is designed to facilitated a two-tier healthcare system, which allows those who can afford to pay to speedily access high-quality treatment and care, while those who cannot afford to pay continue to languish in queues waiting for scans, appointments, therapies and operations.

The good news is this does not have to be this way. Sinn Féin has a plan to tackle the waiting lists and deliver a national health service for Ireland. We would bring an urgency to fixing healthcare and deliver better services for everyone across the island. We would use the current fiscal surplus of €9 billion to catch up on lost decades of underinvestment. The public deserve better than what is currently on offer. We need a comprehensive multi-annual plan that addresses capacity, workforce planning and adequate funding to deliver a world-class healthcare system free at the point of delivery. We need a single-tier system and we need Sláintecare.

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