Mary Lou McDonald: NPHET 'not responsible for the health service being underfunded'

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said that the Tánaiste's comments on NPHET on Claire Byrne Live last night were 'Not helpful.' Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Sinn Féin leader, Mary lou McDonald says that NPHET is "not responsible for the health service being underfunded. 

Ms McDonald says the government has put the Chief Medical Officer in a "very worrying position" after rejecting NPHET advice to move to Level 5.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar heavily criticised the advice last night, which he blasted as "not thought through", adding it "should not have happened".

Mary Lou McDonald said the outburst left Dr Holohan in "a very worrying position".

"The Tánaiste seems more content to engage in the politics of distraction, rather than clarifying for citizens in those counties that have now gone into level three, where the supports for those workers and businesses and families are," she said.

"I think it also has to be said, NPHET and Tony Holohan are not responsible for the fact that our public health system has been run down, and under-resourced government in and government out, that's on Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin, not on NPEHT".

Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar was critical of NPHET in an interview last night. Picture: RollingNews.ie

The lack of bed capacity in Irish hospitals has been flagged as one of the major reasons for the advice given to the government by NPHET.

Ms McDonald says her concern is that the government is failing "to get prepared for the obvious and inevitable at surge again"

"Trying to offset blame to NPHET is simply is not good enough. 

"I absolutely understand Government ask for advice and when you are given advice, I think you accept it by some level of maturity, you then make your decision."

Ms McDonald says she does not know what she would have done if she were in government.

"I wasn't in receipt of the briefing from that perspective, so I don't have as complete a sense of the data and the evidence that was presented to them," she added.

"The government have left people very, very vulnerable in the event that there is a necessity to move to a higher level, because they have cut the very support that people rely on when the restrictions kick in.

"I believe that the NPHET advice was given in good faith. I would take strong notion of the fact that NPHET has the belief that much stronger measures are necessary, that view should not be discounted nor should their assessments, that's our really, really low level of capacity within our health service isn't safe, so it's very very vulnerable.

"I was more concerned that the fact that the government is squaring up to NPHET and answering them back in terms of health care capacity and I think that is wrong. 

"I think it is a very very dangerous place for government to go," she added.