The Government's handling of the nurses' dispute and its management of the health service were strongly criticised yesterday by the Church of Ireland bishop of Cashel and Ossory.
Bishop John Neill said the nurses' dispute was the result of a total breakdown in communication "that has typified recent Government policy on health".
Addressing a diocesan synod in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, Bishop Neill said he had been asked by laity and clergy to highlight the crisis faced by junior doctors, "working hours that are a danger to themselves and to the society which they seek to serve.
"I have no hesitation in stating that no satisfactory answers have been given for the underfunding and under-resourcing of the public medical services . . . It is no longer acceptable that wards in any hospital should be closed as waiting lists increase," he said.
"Some of the most highly qualified and highly motivated professionals, both medical and nursing, are being turned away from pursuing careers in this country."
There were good things happening in the field of healthcare in the community, he added, and there was co-operation between health boards and voluntary organisations in providing new local services.
