Fianna Fail's shame

national | miscellaneous | opinion/analysis

Wednesday May 05, 2004 12:03

by pat carey

Two years ago this week Fianna Fail promised to make Health their number one priority. Two years ago this week the Taoiseach promised to end waiting lists – permanently. Two years ago this week Fianna Fail took the Irish electorate for a ride because two years later hospital waiting lists have actually increased by 2,000.

Two years ago this week Fianna Fail promised to make Health their number one priority. Two years ago this week the Taoiseach promised to end waiting lists – permanently. Two years ago this week Fianna Fail took the Irish electorate for a ride because two years later hospital waiting lists have actually increased by 2,000.

At a press conference to launch Fianna Fail’s Election 2002 Health proposals, Micheal Martin claimed the Government would eliminate waiting lists through a combination of more beds and an expansion of the treatment purchase scheme abroad. Charlie McCreevy assured the public that even if the economy faltered health would be the number one spending priority for FF in Government.

At a time when the Government threw money at projects such as Punchestown and Electronic Voting we discover from a leaked Government memo that €400m of hospital facilities are lying idle because the Department of Finance is refusing to provide the additional funding to make these units operational. Strange that despite FF promises of 3,000 extra beds, A&E departments are at breaking point because acute beds are being closed. In fact the row is not even about new beds anymore – it has moved on to the re-opening of existing beds that were forced to close. Now sooner do they open but they are closed again. From the Government that brought us revolving prisons, we now have revolving wards.

The National Treatment Purchase Fund is working well – provided you can get access to it. Adult patients only have access to the National Treatment Purchase Fund if they have been on a waiting for at least six months.

When all of these are added to the Government’s commitment of an extra 200,000 medical cards that in reality turned into 46,500 fewer people having access to the service, this week marks the anniversary of this incompetent Government’s most cynical deception.