Good medicine or cynicism?

Contrary to some press reports, various Fianna Fáil deputies insist that there was not any meeting in Cork aimed at pressurising the Taoiseach on the implementation of the Hanly Report, much less a secret plot to oust him.

Minister for Health Micheál Martin insists that there are no plans to backtrack on the Hanly plan. It will be implemented over the next ten years, he insists. But virtually nothing will be done about it before the local and European elections next summer.

Members of the Government are already emphasising that the report will have to take demographic and local factors into consideration. This will function not only as an opt-out clause but also both a carrot and a stick.

If people do not support the local Fianna Fáil candidate next year, the resulting loses in the implementation of the Hanly Report will be blamed on the voters.

Those places that support the party can be rewarded on the pretext of some local or demographic consideration. Election promises obviously mean nothing; political considerations will rule.

The Hanly Report may be an honest attempt to organise the administrative chaos in the health sector, but the Government is already turning it into another naked piece of electoral cynicism.