Patients will either reap benefit or pay the price of proposal

It’s either someone finally talking some long-overdue sense, or the most cynical moving of the political goalposts in a generation, writes Fiachra Ó’Cionnaith

And, whatever your interpretation is, ultimately voiceless patients far from the halls of Leinster House will be the ones to either reap the benefit or pay the price of the high-stakes proposal.

Under plans first outlined in opposition election manifestos and now knitted tightly into the Government’s programme, Health Minister Simon Harris yesterday announced plans for a cross-party group to decide on health policy for the next decade. As part of the move, which has long been called for by medics tired of needless political rows, the new committee will be tasked with drawing up a long-term strategy for how to fix the health service.