Sinn Féin calls for extra €2bn health funding ahead of winter

Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane said an unprecedented response is needed. File Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Sinn Féin has called for a €125m "jobs guarantee" for the health sector.

The call is included in the party's proposals to "protect Ireland's health service", with spokesperson David Cullinan warning the health service could have 40% fewer beds due to physical distancing.

Mr Cullinane said the sector needs an extra €2bn and warned there is a "huge amount of catchup which needs to be tackled".

The funding call comes in the wake of similar remarks made by HSE CEO Paul Reid who estimated a further €1bn would be needed by the service in the coming months.

"Hospitals and the HSE are telling us that hospitals could be down 40% capacity because of infection control measures and social distancing guidelines," Mr Cullinane said.

"40% at a time of Covid care, non-Covid care, catchup care and the winter flu season." 

It's massive and it's going to present a challenge like we've never seen before and it needs a response that has never been seen before."

The document recommends that Ireland finance a €1.7bn Emergency Capacity Protection Fund which would be used to deliver additional beds in modular units, hire additional staff and invest in an expansion of community intervention schemes.

Mr Cullinane also called for a €125m "jobs guarantee" which estimates that 2,500 frontline staff could be hired almost immediately, as well as a €1.25m fund to provide mental health services for healthcare workers. A further €40m would be given to end the difference in pay between consultants hired before and after 2012.

"We must put in place a jobs guarantee for those who joined the health service to tackle Covid-19. We must retain as many of the additional 3,271 staff hired to tackle the pandemic."

The Waterford TD said the government must "secure necessary capacity and associated staff in private healthcare facilities", calling on the government to use a "cost-only" deal with private hospitals to increase the number of beds available for care across the board.

Today @davidcullinane launched our plan to protect our healthcare system and frontline workers, through this crisis and the winter months.

The Government's plan is still nowhere to be seen. pic.twitter.com/wHPAYsryac

— Sinn Féin (@sinnfeinireland) August 10, 2020

"Where appropriate and cost-effective, [the funding] could be used to secure the necessary capacity and associated staff in private healthcare facilities on a cost-only basis. Any future deal must represent value for money for the taxpayer and must ensure that the price tag reflects the necessary costs alone."

Mr Cullinane's plan would come on top of the additional €2bn which has been added to the Department of Health's budget for 2020. He said it is now imperative that the government published its plan.

"We cannot go into the winter months with staff not just at burnout, but beyond that. We cannot go into the winter months with chaos in our acute hospitals or not being treated and the increased mortality rates that would follow that.

"There's a very real crisis coming towards us and the government and ministers must act very quickly now."