Sinn Féin has published its plans for an alternative budget for health costing an extra €1.1 billion next year.

The party is proposing that 500 extra acute patient beds be opened by the end of 2023, plus 37 extra critical care beds, along with capital funding to expand surgical theatre and public diagnostic capacity.

David Cullinane TD, the party's health spokesperson, said that Sinn Féin would implement a new consultant contract and remove private practice from public hospitals over ten years.

He said that the aim was to move away from a deeply unfair two tier system and some of the proposals would be funded over a number of years.

Under the priority measures, the party says it would expand the GP visit card to make 300,000 more people eligible.

The plan also says hospital inpatient charges should be abolished over two years.