Government under-spending on health comes as no surprise
Published: 26 June, 2006
Sinn Féin Cllr Pádraig Mac Lochlainn has said he is not surprised that government spending on health is one of the lowest of any developed country.
Cllr Mac Lochlainn was speaking in advance on a report to be released this week by the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The report reveals Ireland's below average spend on health and claims that despite the strong growth in the Irish economy the proportion of GDP spent on health has increased by only one percentage point over the last ten years. Only Mexico, Poland, the Slovak Republic and South Korea ranked lower than Ireland in the survey of 30 countries.
Cllr Mac Lochlainn said:
"This report confirms our suspicions that this Government has failed to deliver on its promises in relation to our health service and failed the people of this country. Instead of investing in our health service, they are lining the pockets of already wealthy investors by giving them tax breaks to build Private Hospitals to perpetuate the two tier health service that provides for those able to pay. This report confirms that this Government is all about the right wing PD's tail wagging the Fianna Fáil dog.
"Here in Donegal, we can see the results of this right wing policy. Our elderly remain on trolleys in the coffee dock of Letterkenny Hospital because of the failure over the years to invest in an extension to the hospital with extra beds. Then adding insult to injury by giving the rich a huge tax break to build a private hospital right beside the public hospital at Letterkenny. This is an absolute disgrace and a damning indictment of this Government."
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