Sinn Féin’s promises have no roadmap for healthcare delivery – Burke

Health proposals included in Sinn Féin’s alternative budget totally lack clarity on how promises would be achieved, a Fine Gael Minister has warned.

Minister of State at the Department of Health and Fine Gael General Election candidate for Cork North Central Colm Burke said: “In Sinn Féin’s alternative budget they have allocated funding for additional beds between now and 2031, without any detail on where these beds would be situated. The provisions to increase staffing and infrastructure to deal with these increased beds are also unclear.

“These provisions are costed in part through €100 million in savings via ‘reduction of reliance on agency, management consultancy and out-sourcing’. How this will be achieved?

“The Government continues to make positive strides in healthcare. Since 2020 we have added over 28,000 (including 3,000 in disability) additional staff. We have also added almost 1,200 more hospital beds.

“Our population is growing and we are experiencing an increase in demand for services. Even so, overcrowding has fallen this year by approximately 14%. This is in spite of an increase in presentations to Emergency Departments.

“We are making real progress. Current expenditure on Health will be over €25 billion euro next year. We have also delivered on capital projects. In my home county of Cork alone we have delivered:
– A new 4 storey building with 48 inpatient beds at present in Mallow General Hospital
– 60 additional beds in Heather House in St Mary’s Orthopedic Hospital, Gurranabraher
– A new multi-million Primary Care Centre in Ballincollig with medical services including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, ophthalmology, speech and language therapy, public health nursing, social work and home support managers.

“While we have seen challenges in our health service and we have more to do, we have seen concrete results. We have one of the highest life expectancies in the EU. Survival rates for cancer, strokes, heart attacks and infant mortality have improved greatly.

“Taking a chance on this very basic alternative plan would be foolhardy in the face of real progress.”