Real vision is needed to fix health service
ON Tuesday last your newspaper carried a full page article by Dr Clive Kilgallen with the headline, ‘Our health service is on life support. We must act now to save it.’
I – perhaps naively – expected to read an article listing all that is wrong in our health service, and perhaps some possible remedies.
Instead Dr Kilgallen told us that the hospital consultants feel their pay levels should be restored, and I have little doubt this issue seriously rankles with our consultants.
Similarly, I have no doubt that nurses’ groups can claim they are badly paid. I believe some 40% of health service staff are in admin work. How can this possibly be necessary or justified?
Every Western health service is in some form of crisis, mainly because people are living far longer than just a couple of generations ago. Our country needs a genuine national debate about what our health service should be, otherwise our fear the system we have now will eventually bankrupt our land may be realised.
Whenever our health service is mentioned I see groups representing various staff groups all capable of strongly fighting their corner. But I also see very little vision for what we should be aiming for, and very little concern to have the patients needs come first.
I have paid tax and social insurance here since 1983. This does not even entitle me to one ‘free’ check-up per year. Yet people who have never worked a day in their lives get free medicines through the Medical Card system.
It’s a bit like an insurance scheme where those who pay a premium are not entitled to claim, and those who pay no premium may claim all they like.
‘Health service in crisis’ has been a news constant for decades. A bit of vision, a bit of looking beyond sectional interests, and some consideration of the humble taxpayer are what we desperately need. GERRY KELLY, Dublin 6.
Show us respect
THE Government shows its disrespect for the people it governs in many ways. People in Government routinely spend public money in many ways that they would never spend their own.
We have seen a number of examples in recent times.
We need more bipartisan effort to reduce unnecessary expenditures instead of habitually spending more and raising taxes.
When the Government finds ways of making more and more burdensome loans for students to borrow instead of focusing on the causes of routine increases of college tuition, it shows a lack of respect for people. Students’ debt is out of control. PAT O CALLAGHAN,
Mallow, Co. Cork.
Time for an Irexit
HAVING regard to the Leave referendum outcome in the UK and Northern Ireland, I have no doubt that if Éire ever gets the same opportunity, and were not forced a few of times to repeat the voting process (as previously happened in referendums) until the ‘right’ victory was arrived at, we would indeed follow Britain out of the EU.
We are not fools who would seek to isolate ourselves from our best friend in all possible aspects, especially economically.
We are indeed misled by weak government and Irish politicians of all parties, who are fixated on unchallenged obedience to the EU monolith, which has no such influence in countries which think for themselves.
If the EU was no more, this would be the attitude from the Dáil, familiar with Irish ‘bravery’: ‘Oh dear, who will we kowtow to now that our masters have left?”
The EU is already softening the tone on the ‘backstop’ roadblock which is seen by Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney as their personal nuclear weapon. It is meaningless.
Cosy up to Boris, lads, he will prove to be our true ally at the end of the day. Paddy and Biddy are sick of being betrayed by twisted and thwarted democracy, beginning in the EU, by those who care not an iota for our national integrity, with never a complaint from Leinster House.