Health will be the number one spending priority of Fianna Fáil in government even if the economy falters, the Minister for Finance promised yesterday.
Mr McCreevy was at a press conference to launch the Fianna Fáil health policy document, Building a World-Class Health Service for All.
The document repeats undertakings given in the National Health Strategy and also promises to make an extra 200,000 people eligible for the medical card. It promises to end hospital waiting lists permanently in two years.
Mr McCreevy said the party's health commitments were based on the expectation that the trend in the economic growth rate would be 5 per cent per annum.
"If the growth rate is lower than 5 per cent, the priority for government spending will be health," he said. "That will be the number one priority. Number one is health, others are lower priority."
The Minister for Health and Children, Mr Martin, said: "We are proposing to spend €5 billion in capital funding and €3.8 billion in recurrent funding above the estimates which we have previously published. This amount is included in its entirety in the budgetary framework which we published at the start of the campaign.
"The National Health Strategy forms the core of our agenda for the next five years," he said. "We want long-term solutions, not quick fixes." In their proposals, neither Fine Gael nor Labour had provided for the funding to pay for their health policies, he said.
Mr Martin criticised plans by Fine Gael and Labour to implement a universal health insurance system. Last May, the Fine Gael leader, Mr Noonan, had said a universal insurance system would bring "chaos" to the health service. The Labour Party had "refused" to produce detailed legislation and costings on its plans.
Fianna Fáil would end waiting lists through a combination of extra beds, paying for public patients to be treated in private hospitals and sending public patients abroad for treatment.
The attack on Fine Gael and Labour funding plans was taken up by the Taoiseach. "We are the only people who have the money," Mr Ahern said. "The others have no money for health."
Asked about the placing of regional radiotherapy centres, Mr Martin said, "We are not going to go around the country signing letters for every group with particular demands."
A decision as to where to locate additional radiotherapy services would have to await the outcome of the expert committee headed by Prof Donal Hollywood, he said.
• The Labour Party yesterday hit back at Fianna Fáil criticisms of its funding proposals. "Labour is the only party to have earmarked a specific €5 billion commitment to pay for the capital programme necessary for health," health spokeswoman Ms Liz McManus, said.