The Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has called for patients awaiting treatment who take care of their health to be given priority over those who ignore medical advice.
In a speech in Cork to mark his first anniversary as party leader, Mr Kenny said society had to accept that rights come with responsibilities.
After a year spent re-organising Fine Gael during which 8,000 new members were recruited, Enda Kenny hit the ground running on his first anniversary as party leader.
He chose Cork to deliver a speech which he hopes will be the beginning of an alternative platform to the Fianna Fail/PD Government, an administration which he said was a complete stranger to its responsibilities.
But society too had to recognise that it had responsibilities, he said. On the crisis in the health service, Mr Kenny said those who took better care of their health should be rewarded.
He said, ‘We believe that priority should be given to those who have demonstrably taken responsibility for their own health; who, if they are diagnosed with illness, genuinely try to heed the medical advice given, be it to overcome their addiction to smoking, to tackle their dependence on alcohol or get more exercise.’
The Fine Gael leader also said that fair pay for public servants could not be a one-way street.
He said, ‘ Fine Gael believes that better pay for public servants must and should translate into better public services. By all means pay the benchmarking awards, but only if the consumer is guaranteed a measurable and efficient return.’
With his reorganisation of Fine Gael now almost complete, today marks the beginning of a new phase in Enda Kenny's leadership - his unveiling to the public of what the party under him actually stands for. His future is tied to how the public receives this message.
