Harney endorses the top tier of healthcare

THE opening of an extension to the Blackrock Clinic, Dublin, by Health Minister Mary Harney recently was bizarre in the context of the slash-and-burn policies being implemented in the health service.

A public patient has no right to access this hospital, even though he or she has contributed considerably to its development. The figures are astonishing. For a minimum investment of €100,000, investors can get a return of 21%. The extraordinary generosity, at taxpayer’s expense, shown to those with wealth, when compared to what the rest of us are being asked to endure, is nothing short of scandalous.

But perhaps the really sickening aspect of all this is that it nurtures the two-tier health system that sees many people caught in lengthy queues and, in many cases, the waiting proves more dangerous than the disease.