Liz McManus, 'Need for public debate'
The Minister said two Departments - Finance and Health - were working together to bring a joint set of proposals to Government to implement a reform plan.
He added that he was seeking time for a Dáil debate on health reform before the Dáil recess at the end of June.
The Minister was responding to criticism from the Labour Party which said that outstanding Government reports on the health service had been extensively leaked, yet there had been no opportunity to debate the issues in the Dáil.
Liz McManus claimed that, with the Taoiseach and Tánaiste in denial about the state of the health services, and Charlie McCreevy and Micheál Martin squabbling over who ran the Department of Health, there was an urgent need for public debate.
Ms McManus accused Bertie Ahern and Mary Harney of colluding to mislead the public before the last election when they launched their health policy but suppressed a letter from Charlie McCreevy refusing to fund it.
Asked about the role of hospitals and health boards in managing their own budgets, the Labour Party frontbencher said there was no political leadership at the top of the service and she was challenging the decisions made by the PDs and Fianna Fáil.
At the same conference, Labour's childcare spokeswoman, Senator Kathleen O'Meara, accused the Minister for Health of presiding over a system that saw Our Lady's Hopsital for Sick Children turning away patients in need of chemotherapy.
