Greens promise 2,000 extra hospital beds

Green Party: health policy: Green Party chairman John Gormley has forecast that it will win more than eight seats and be in …

Green Party: health policy:Green Party chairman John Gormley has forecast that it will win more than eight seats and be in government after the general election.

Mr Gormley was speaking at the launch of the party's policy document on hospitals and funding yesterday yesterday. The party is promising some 2,000 extra acute hospital beds and a similar number of step down beds if in power after the election. Mr Gormley, who is health spokesman, also promised another 1,500 hospital consultants; extra staff to combat hospital-acquired infections such as MRSA, more medical cards and more transparency from the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) in terms of the payments it makes to private hospitals to take public patients off waiting lists. It would subsume the NTPF into the Health Service Executive (HSE).

He said that he hoped the party would be part of an alternative administration after polling day and that Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats would be on the opposition benches.

He said the Greens would campaign independently and would subsequently negotiate with other parties. However, Mr Gormley said that the party had a mandate to remove "the current discredited Government from power".

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Mr Gormley said that the Green Party would not be making "extravagant promises" on tax cuts to the electorate. He said the party would be telling voters that if they voted for the Greens they would get better services, particularly in the areas of health, education and transport. Mr Gormley said that he was surprised at Mr Ahern's decision to call the election yesterday morning. "Frankly, I thought that Bertie Ahern would keep his promise and call it in the summer. It is the last of the broken promises of this Fianna Fáil and PD administration," he said.

Mr Gormley forecast that the Green Party would do better than in 2002, coming back with "eight-plus" seats or more. "That would put us in a pivotal position in negotiations for a new government," he said.

Mr Gormley said the Department of Health would be one of the ministries the Greens would seek if part of a new government. However, he acknowledged he had said previously it would not be his first choice as a ministry. Mr Gormley said that he hoped that the election would be cleanly fought "without spin or smear". He accused the Progressive Democrats of misrepresenting many of its economic policies.

The party reiterated that if in government, it would scrap current plans to build private hospitals on eight public hospital sites which Mr Gormley said would "entrench the two-tier health service that we have at present".

It would also lift the cap on recruitment in the health service and recognise the fears of people in rural areas in relation to local hospital services.