Could Richard Bruton be Minister for Health after the general election?

outandabout

This will be one of the toughest choices for the next Taoiseach.

James Reilly might be the popular choice but as a former member of the Irish Medical Organisation executive, he'd face some tough decisions facing down his old colleagues.

Michael Noonan has done it before and was unpopular so Richard Bruton could be a good choice as he has an economic background and is a good communicator and is also a very hard worker.

syklops

I think the incoming Taoiseach will face a myriad of decisions infinitely more difficult than who to put in the Minister of Health spot.

outandabout

I think the incoming Taoiseach will face a myriad of decisions infinitely more difficult than who to put in the Minister of Health spot
.....

If you can't run an efficient and functioning Department of Health, you can't run an efficient and functioning economy.

There's also a social element to the Ministry as all voters, regardless of party preference, expect to have the best medical care available to them.

syklops

outandabout wrote: »

I think the incoming Taoiseach will face a myriad of decisions infinitely more difficult than who to put in the Minister of Health spot
.....

If you can't run an efficient and functioning Department of Health, you can't run an efficient and functioning economy.

There's also a social element to the Ministry as all voters, regardless of party preference, expect to have the best medical care available to them.

I am not disagreeing with you. It is no coincidence that the countries who came out of recession first also have excellent medical services(France/Germany).

What I was saying is that the entire system is broken. The lot, the entire machine, so the next Taoiseach will need to look at the big picture in panoramic wide-screen, and then start coming up with ideas to fix it. He/she won't be able to focus on any one area, but reform all areas at the same time. If they do what the country needs them to do, they will suffer great pain and probably not see any benefit until after they leave office, maybe not even get the credit but it needs to be done.

Pherekydes

Maybe the Taoiseach will want to pawn it off on Labour? It's such a poisoned chalice, after all.

Corsendonk

outandabout wrote: »

This will be one of the toughest choices for the next Taoiseach.

James Reilly might be the popular choice but as a former member of the Irish Medical Organisation executive, he'd face some tough decisions facing down his old colleagues.

Michael Noonan has done it before and was unpopular so Richard Bruton could be a good choice as he has an economic background and is a good communicator and is also a very hard worker.

Strange how Reilly avoided yesterday raising FG position that the government had failed to manage consultants and their high costs and left the question up to his side kick. His body language hinted he didn't want to be there. His achilles heel?

syklops

Corsendonk wrote: »

Strange how Reilly avoided yesterday raising FG position that the government had failed to manage consultants and their high costs and left the question up to his side kick. His body language hinted he didn't want to be there. His achilles heel?

The Dail is literally falling apart as we speak. He probably didn't want to be there. He doesn't want to be associated in any way with the messing about that is going on up there.

Also, a large amount of people blame the opposition for the current mess, saying they could have done more to prevent the crisis, so for those members of the electorate he probably did not want to get dragged into the debate.

Right now, the best political strategy for any member of the opposition is to keep their mouth shut and let Cowen and Co to hang themselves.

kev9100

It depends on how many seats Labour gets. If Labour does really well they could stake a claim for health and a fair few other senior posts.

Bottle_of_Smoke

I think it will be a labour ministry. With FG taking finance

If it is a FG majority quite possibly will be Bruton. Kenny knows he's the most popular member but may not want to put him in finance after the attempted coup.

Pete_Cavan

Pherekydes wrote: »

Maybe the Taoiseach will want to pawn it off on Labour? It's such a poisoned chalice, after all.

The same reason why Harney was left with that post for so long, FF didnt want one of their own to have it and all the bad press that goes with it. I wouldnt blame her too much for her poor performance, she obviously knows little or nothing about health (just look at her), I'd blame FFs lack of backbone.

I would rather not see Labour as part of the next government, but it is looking very likely they will and health is probably one of the ministries where they could actually improve things. I'd settle for Labour getting health as long as they are kept as far away from finance as possible.