Health crisis - Politicians face election grilling

PREDICTABLY, health was top of the political agenda yesterday with the parties keenly aware they face a grilling on the doorstep in the general election campaign next spring.

As Fianna Fáil wound up its annual think-in at Westport, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern admitted he was appalled last year to hear that while the Government was spending almost €13 billion on health “people couldn’t get a blanket or were sleeping on trolleys”.

Mr Ahern also knows this scenario persists in overcrowded hospitals up and down the country despite his claim that rather than being appalled like everyone else “I had to get out and do something about it”.

Judging by its poor showing in opinion polls, the Government is running out of time to convince voters the health debacle will be resolved. Indeed, Fianna Fáil TDs are conceding the enormous problems of the health service will not be resolved by election time. Instead, they are hoping sufficient solutions will be in place to convince voters progress is being made.

When it comes down to realpolitik, they are also acutely aware that ultimately the buck stops on the desk of PD leader, Tánaiste and Health Minister Mary Harney. Similarly, they hope Justice Minister Michael McDowell will carry the can for his department’s failings.

Health matters also dominated the conference of Fine Gael and Labour in Mullingar, where respective leaders Enda Kenny and Pat Rabbitte outlined a joint policy decision to spend 10% of the health budget on mental health.

Significantly, they selected a topic which draws considerable public sympathy following years of neglect. In the process, they hope to show that a marriage between the main opposition parties could work.

But much tougher decisions, involving ideological compromise by both sides, have yet to be faced when it comes, for instance, to taking on the powerful hospital consultants or hammering out a joint programme on taxation.

The PR message is that the Kenny-Rabbitte duo were singing from the same hymn sheet. Going into the election, they are projecting themselves as potential leaders of an alternative coalition administration, with a detailed and carefully thought-out programme.

Overall, the Fianna Fáil conference in Westport was a low-key affair. With characteristic shrewdness, the Taoiseach avoided launching an election campaign. Instead of being gung-ho, he calmly emphasised what has been achieved and what remains to be done.

During the next nine months, Fianna Fáil ministers will gradually put the core programme in place, outlining the party’s vision of a future Ireland. Significantly, yesterday’s press conference brought renewed denials about pulling strokes in a pre-election budget designed to buy votes.

Baiting the other parties, Fianna Fáil challenged them to come up with realistic policies. On the question of their poor performance at the polls they are betting that by April, voters will look at what the Government has achieved and decide accordingly. In a nutshell, Fianna Fáil are convinced the situation can be turned around.

But while the economy is burgeoning, the dominance of the construction sector poses a grave danger. If the housing market were to collapse before next spring, the party’s hopes of achieving the elusive three-in-a-row government would suffer a body blow.

Meanwhile, the Kenny-Rabbitte strategy is based on the mantra that since no other party wants to get into bed with Fianna Fáil, a Fine Gael-Labour coalition is the only credible administration in a position to make its policies known to the public in advance.

It is all to play for.