Government must ditch its obsession with spin and tackle our real crises
HAVING listened to the news and read reports in daily papers over the past nearly eight years since the Fine Gael-led Government came into power, each year saw a marked disimprovement in our health services. Despite three different health ministers, it has deteriorated even further recently, so it appears pointless continuing with the present Government.
It is clear Fine Gael cannot manage health, housing, climate change, broadband, rural burglaries, our stance on Ireland’s neutrality, etc, not to mind the costly water fiasco.
It is scandalous to see the entourage of Taoiseach, ministers and TDs at so many photocalls or anywhere a camera is likely to be. All these Government people trying to squeeze into a photo, instead of the Government being represented by the relevant minister and the rest doing a bit of work on problem areas listed above. The hasty rush to get the abortion amendment through to the exclusion of, and detrimental effect it will have on, existing patients, whereby a doctor gets €50 a visit, means the Government is trying to get the abortion work accepted by doctors and is bribing them with €350 for three visits. Our health service is bursting at the seams already and now our doctors will have this extra work with possible extra loading on hospital A&Es. Very bad timing on the Government’s part.
I would be very disappointed in Fianna Fáil if it continues to prop up this Government. Surely everybody must see by now our unsustainable hospital crisis. If this Government has any hope of staying in office, it will have to cut out all this spin and PR, be more realistic and buckle down to doing more practical work on the problem areas mentioned, and cut out pie-in-the-sky announcements on five and 10-year aspirations that most likely will never happen. This could be the Government slogan: ‘Very little done, an awful lot to do.’ T Wheeler
Address with editor