Health reforms Opposition quizzes Harney
The Tánaiste, Mary Harney, has defended the Hanly Report on health service reforms, which was strongly criticised by the Opposition parties after being released yesterday.
Ms Harney also accused Opposition deputies of having declared their opposition to the Hanly Report before they had read it. She was speaking in the Dáil this morning, after being asked what plans there were to debate the proposals.
Fine Gael's Richard Bruton asked her to explain how it was that having employed 30,000 extra people in the health service, the Government had not got around to dealing with the forthcoming limit on the working hours of junior doctors, despite having known about it since the mid 1990s.
McManus urges Hanly debate
Labour's Liz McManus said it would be better for the Dáil to sit and debate the Hanly Report, rather than taking a week off in the run-up to Halloween.
Caoimghín O Caoláin of Sinn Féin asked exactly what are the Government's plans for dealing with the Hanly Report.
The Tánaiste said her advice was that no legislation was required to implement the Hanly Report, although it would be for the Government's overall reform package for the health service, and that legislation would come before the House early in the new year.
She added that the Dáil would debate the Report in the week beginning 11 November. Deputy McManus insisted that Opposition deputies had read the report, and asked whether the Minister for Health had the support of the Minister for Finance for his proposals.
Report puts burden on drivers - SIPTU
Earlier, a SIPTU official said that while the Hanly Report on health reform contains some good points, it would also place a burden on ambulance drivers.
Frank O'Malley is the SIPTU representative for Emergency Medical Technicians in the Mid-Western region. Speaking on RTÉ Radio, he said drivers would have to travel further with patients who may be in a life or death situation.
But Dr Cillian Twomey, who is a consultant at Cork University Hospital and a member of the National Task Force for Medical Staffing which drew up the report, defended it for making necessary improvements.
