Sinn Féin TD Ann Graves has said it is “unacceptable” that Ireland doesn’t have a universal healthcare system.
Speaking in the Dail during a debate on healthcare last week, the Swords TD said that the government has created a private market for healthcare, where access to healthcare depends on the ability to pay.
“Many households see health insurance as a necessity because they can no longer rely on a broken system propped up by broken promises from a government out of touch and out of ideas,” the Sinn Féin TD said.
“Waiting lists are too long. 300,000 people are waiting on scans, and more than 40,000 are waiting over 18 months.”
Graves said, “my office in Swords is inundated with constituents looking for assistance for the most basic medical needs.”
The Sinn Féin TD gave a number of examples during the debate, including a woman who’s son has been on a 55 month waiting list for occupational therapy, a man in his late 80s who has been in hospital for over a year but the respite centre is below standard, and a disabled man who has been waiting so long for an operation, his health has deteriorated to the point where the man has had to give up his job.
Graves pinned the decline in Ireland’s healthcare system on government policy on Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s policies on healthcare, saying that healthcare in Ireland is now viewed as a commodity “that can be bought and sold on the free market.”
“Government should be aiming to develop a public health care system which removes the need for any citizen to spend their hard-earned income on private insurance,” she said.
Per Graves, 2.5 million people in Ireland avail of private health insurance, with insurance companies paying out €2.5 billion every year in premiums; now, those same insurance companies have increased prices for consumers.
“The healthcare model being pursued by the government is designed to facilitate a two-tier health care system which allows those who can afford to pay to access speedy, high-quality treatment and care. Those who cannot afford to pay privately continue to languish in queues waiting for scans, appointments, therapy or an operation,” she said.
Graves said that her party, should it get into government, would tackle waiting lists and introduce a national health service for Ireland.
“We would bring an urgency to fixing the healthcare and delivery better services for everyone across the island. We would use the current fiscal surplus of €9 billion to catch up on a lost decade of underinvestment. The public deserves better than what’s currently on offer,” Graves said.