Bad for our health

HEALTH Minister Mary Harney has declared the crisis in the State's A&E departments as a 'national emergency'. Just days before, the Health Service Executive set targets to reduce A&E waiting times to 24 hours by the year-end.

A 24-hour wait is an insult to the citizens of this State and a damning indictment of the performance thus far of Ms Harney, who should be promoting top-quality public health instead of focusing on tax breaks and land giveaways to private medical facilities.

Maybe then, all the people of this country, and not just those who can afford it, will have access to the most basic of human rights - their health.