Taking a scalpel to HSE

DESPITE a quadrupling of our health budget since 1997, Ireland is ranked 15th among European nations for the quality of its healthcare, and 24th in value terms.

All political parties agree that throwing money at the health service will not solve its inherent problems.

Earlier this month Fine Gael launched its FairCare health plan, setting out how it will abolish the Health Service Executive by 2016 and introduce a Universal Health Insurance (UHI) system.