Free public health plan just porkies

PLANS for a universal health service lack one vital component – flying pigs.

Future of Healthcare findings which propose free GP and public hospital care might just as well be called the Pie in the Sky Report. The public has every right to be sceptical as similar pledges were made when the Fine Gael/ Labour Government were swept to power. Over six years on not only were the promises not delivered but the health service is now in a worse state than it was in 2011 and waiting lists have broken all previous records. The estimated cost of €5.8billion over the next decade is not excessive when the taxpayer was forced to hand over up to €100billion to protect the health of the sick banking system. The sheer scale of the numbers of people on hospital waiting lists is a damning indictment of the way the outgoing and previous governments have neglected the health service. While the latest proposals appear to have all-party support the public has a right to ask how they can be put in place when the current trolley and waiting list crisis cannot be solved. Labour leader Brendan Howlin yesterday called for the estimated €3billion from the sale of part of AIB to be used in the “transitional fund” to begin building a free public system. If Finance Minister Michael Noonan uses the cash in this way it will signal the start of something significant. If not, then it will mean that pigs will indeed fly before one is in place.