That’s another unhealthy mess we’ve gotten ourselves into

THE beauty about the radical plans for the health service announced this week is, from the Government’s point of view, the fact that they could take anything from three to 10 years to implement.

At that stage, the Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats conglomeration could be a long forgotten nightmare and Bertie Ahern safely ensconced as president of Europe.

One thing is for sure, though, whatever tweaking of the currently unmanageable health service is carried out under the McCreevy-Martin grand design, it won’t make one bit of difference to the hospital waiting lists.

Yesterday’s page one headline in this newspaper said: “Martin to take on consultants in health service shake-up.”

I wonder what odds Paddy Power would give on that one.

The chances are that, for instance, it will be like the situation with the public health doctors’ dispute.

Their strike is as good as over. At this stage it is being described as the “10 week-old” strike, despite the fact that the dispute has been going on for eight or nine years.

It was in the final run-up to the Special Olympics being held here that the Irish Medical Organisation sanctioned the strike action, and under the current proposals for a settlement, some of the pay increases are back-dated to six years.

The 270 doctors involved work in the crucial area of controlling infectious diseases such as meningitis, TB and measles, just to mention a few.

Their work, obviously, is critical to the overall well-being of the nation’s health, yet their dispute was allowed to fester for years until it eventually ended up as strike action.

The Minster’s fighting words in relation to the consultants are predicated on the yet to be published Hanley report, which is expected to emerge sometime in the next two weeks.

In the meantime, the Government, via the health service restructuring scheme, has announced its aspirations to, among other things, force the consultants to change their current practice by providing 24 hour coverage, seven days a week.

Liam Doran of the Irish Nurses Organisation said that while the administrative reforms are certainly welcome, no change or improvement in front-line services will really take place without an agreed extended role for consultants, and the necessary investment dramatically to increase the capacity of the service.

“This is the only way the service can deal with the demands it faces and the only way to avoid overcrowding, reduce waiting lists and reduce general waiting times for services,” he commented.

Trying to “force” anybody to do something is not the best way to try to bring about desirable change, but then the present Government is not renowned for its sensibilities.

Take, for example, the diktat delivered by Minister for Transport Seamus Brennan in relation to reducing the cost of Dublin Airport metro.

Laws will be introduced changing ownership of land beneath houses, abolishing the right to appeal and allowing the Government to side-step environment impact studies.

This dictatorial approach follows on a need to reduce the cost of the project by €1.4 billion and an analysis of metro systems in Madrid by the Railway Procurement Agency.

Minister Brennan, believing you have to be cruel to be kind, didn’t mince his words for the people with houses on the proposed route when he announced his intentions of this bulldozer approach.

Quite simply, he said, it would mean “pain” for those living in Dublin.

“The people of Dublin will have to get their head around this. If we’re going to do it Spanish-style, it will have to be different,” said Mr. Brennan.

In this case, “different” is too small a word. Trampling over peoples’ rights would be a better description.

His plan would entail sweeping legal changes to the “cumbersome” consultation process.

“If we want to get two-and-a-half years down to eight months, the big losers are public consultations, environmental impact studies, rights of appeal and compulsory purchase orders,” he declared, totally oblivious to the fact that we live, or think we do anyway, in a democracy.

Another loser would be peoples’ night sleep because doing it Spanish-style would entail 24-hour tunnelling.

I’m sure Mr. Brennan and his colleagues in the FF-PD conglomeration feel that the electoral process is also “cumbersome,” so don’t be surprised if some day we’re told to get our heads around the fact that they are going to introduce sweeping legal changes to keep them in power ad infinitem for our own good.

It’s a pity they don’t adopt the same level of commitment and determination to other issues, such as the dangerous and dilapidated schools all over the country, which are a source of real danger to the unfortunate young children and their teachers who have to put up with them.

It was only the grace of God which prevented serious injury to children at St. Nessan’s school in Mungret, Limerick, a week ago when the roof in one of the classrooms partially collapsed.

Thankfully, nobody was injured but if they had they been, it would have been as a direct result of broken promises from this Government.

Before the general election, parents were promised that work would begin on five permanent classrooms to replace the present pre-fabs.

Naturally, nothing was ever done but then we all know exactly what election promises mean to the current administration - just empty words to con their way back to power.

When it comes to themselves, there never is a shortage of money, whether it’s for new jets or looking after their organisations.

What Ministers and junior ministers spent last year on running their departments and constituency offices would put safe roofs over the heads of the pupils at St. Nessan’s and countless other schools.

Between them they spent €12.5 million, and the biggest spender was Tánaiste Mary Harney who spent €795,533 of our money running her private and constituency offices.

She employees 12 people, although the Taoiseach has 26 running to his beck and call, and manages to squeeze by with €551,029.

One of the biggest spenders after Mary Harney was Minister for Education Noel Dempsey who costs us €623,155 annually, something which will be noted with a certain irony down Mungret way, and further afield.

Seamus Brennan, the man who wants Dubliners to get their heads around the loss of a plethora of rights, has 17 staff working for him in two offices, at a cost to the taxpayers of €609,325.