The Lisbon Treaty and the Health Service

Galmay

First of all I would like to state that I am of no particular political persuasion. I am interested to know what others think of what I am about to propose and if this has indeed already been proposed elsewhere by individuals or certain political groups.

As a starting point I think it is important to point out my opinion on the Lisbon Treaty. I am well-disposed towards it. European integration has been integral to the current state of the economy in Europe (which is fantastic by the way in comparison to what it started out as in 1957!), it has been integral to equality of persons, quality of goods and services, integral to our current way of life. Further integration is not something which I see will harm Europe or Ireland in any meaningful way. The benefits will far outweigh any minor costs. I do not see Ireland’s neutrality being snatched away from us. I do not see Ireland being forced to harmonise corporation tax rates. I do not see the EU institutions as being sneaky or underhanded by nature (despite they being run by politicians!) I am, therefore, pro-european.

However I am proposing a ‘NO’ vote in the upcoming referendum. For the following reason. The health service, or lack thereof.

In my opinion, a protest vote on the Lisbon referendum is one of the final options available to the Irish electorate to make their voices heard on the current polices being pursued by Ms Harney. The people voted against them in their demolition of the PDs in the general election. They received less than 1% of the popular vote yet amazingly FF let Ms Harney free in the Dept of Health once more. Furthermore, an obvious protest vote on the treaty would allow it to be re-run and then ratified (eg as in the NICE treaty) following a change of direction in the health service.

The policies of privatisation have failed. They prove a cheap short term option in many ways (eg NTPF) however, continual out-sourcing of services to private operators without providing the resources for the state to build up its own health system is far costlier in the medium to longer term, not only financially, but socially. A system similar to the health care system in the USA is the PDs capitalist vision for Ireland, private healthcare, private insurance, little or no state supported system, never mind those who cannot afford it (By the way, this is not conspiracy theory claptrap, its a fact that the PDs place private enterprise above state-provided services. Speak to any consultant doctor in the country, they will confirm the current direction of the health service, think hospital co-location, look for advertisements in the paper for the conference in Dublin this weekend on private healthcare – logo revolution or evolution, all major private hospitals are present, guest speaker Mary Harney). What is worse almost is the fact that the administrative and managerial nightmare that is the HSE is seemingly independent of the Minister for Health and absolves the minister of any responsibility, hence her ability to remain in the post for this length of time. At a time when America is considering a National Health Service, Ireland is dismantling its own.

Some may say that the private sector may succeed where the public sector has failed. However, the public sector is not being allowed to succeed. Shiny new hospitals lay dormant across the country, whole swathes of other hospitals are shut down. Members of staff within the HSE are scared to speak up due to the culture of fear that has been cultivated by the HSE’s recruitment embargo and its adversarial approach to front-line staff who are now known only as ‘vested-interests’. Their ability to speak out against the jaw-dropping decisions currently being taken in our hospitals has been effectively lost through bullying, fear and mis-information through the HSE’s multi-million euro PR budget. Often, its been quoted that HSE staff are inflexible in their working conditions and resistant to change. Go into any hospital. Go to any area. Nurses. Physiotherapists. Radiographers. Medical Scientists. Pharmacists. Paramedical staff. Ask them about their jobs, workloads, conditions of the buildings they work in. The hours they put in. The overtime. The un-paid overtime. Ask them about life-long learning. Their degrees. The Masters degrees. These are dedicated members of the health service all currently being treated like s*** by the HSE in order to push in new reforms based on privitisation which the staff question on practical grounds. Or we can talk about the centres of excellence promised. Staff are being told elsewhere to begin to wind down services. In the dedicated centres, no new staff are being made available, no new resources. The breaking point is approaching.

Okay, I apologise this has turned into a bit of a rant. Albeit, one I stand over. It is for these reasons and more that I propose that the Irish people vote ‘NO’ in protest on the Lisbon Treaty. That the government are made well aware of our voting intentions and that our demands are made clear. That

]a) Mary Harney is removed from Health

b) That her current policies of privatisation go with her

c) A government commitment is made to rebuilding and properly resourcing the Health Service as a State-provided service

d) The HSE is dismantled and replaced with a functioning authoritative body

So, what do people think? Do you agree or do you think I’m a nutter? Some people may argue that to use the referendum for such a purpose is irresponsible but I argue that this may be the last chance we get to stop the government before its gone too far (they didn’t listen at the general election, they didn’t listen to any other protests). In my opinion, it is irresponsible to allow them to continue. All comments welcome!

Moriarty

Galmay, I've locked this thread for the moment. We're in the middle of reorganising where all this can be discussed at the moment so once that's sorted out in the next day or two I'll reopen the thread and bump it for you in whichever forum it ends up being most relevant to.

Apologies in advance