Job cuts and retraining may be necessary to help solve the problems with the health system, the Fine Gael conference was told today.
Speaking at the party's national conference in Wexford this morning, health spokesman Dr James Reilly called fo wanted a review of the health service.
He said that while voluntary redundancies would be on offer, involuntary job cuts would have to be considered.
Dr Reilly also said the party supported retraining those no longer needed in management or administration.
He criticised the Government's failure to tackle the A&E crisis and inefficiencies within the system.
"Some years ago the Government stated that our A&E crisis should be treated as a national emergency but the figures for this month for overnight stays on trolleys has increased by 50 per cent across the country compared to last year," he said.
"The HSE, established in 2004, was to be this Government's great panacea for our Health Service but they failed to take the hard decisions at the outset in regard to redundancies."
The party's justice spokesman Charlie Flanagan told the conference Fine Gael would seek tougher new measures to combat crime, including mandatory 25-year jail terms for murder and restrictions on movements for gangland criminals.
He accused the Government of lacking the will and ability to take on the criminal gangs.
"The average sentence served by murderers is just 13 years. I believe that 25 years is the minimum period that should be served for the crime of murder, and the Fine Gael Bill will enshrine that in law," he said.
Under the Criminal Justice (Violent Crime Prevention) Bill, Disctrict Courts would be able to hand down Criminal Organisation Civil Restriction Orders, which can restrict movements of individuals or their association with certain people.
The bill proposes electronically tagging those to whom the orders are applied, with penalties fort hose who break the terms of the orders.
"The Fine Gael Bill will also tighten up a series of loopholes around sentencing, automatic remission and penalties for possession of blades and firearms. The Bill will increase the maximum penalty for unlawful possession of a knife from five years to 10, and for unlawful possession of a firearm from seven years to 10," he said.
The party's immigration and integration spokesman Denis Naughten said: "There is no doubt that the impact of immigration on the labour market must be monitored closely and there needs to be rigorous enforcement of the
employment protection laws and serious penalties for any employers who attempt to exploit immigrant workers through low pay or unfair conditions".
The party's pokesman on disability, David Stanton, accused the Government of abandoning vulnerable citizens.
"It seems the commitment in the Programme for Government that the National Disability Strategy will be 50 per cent completed by 2010 will not be met. Nor will the Disability Act targets be met," he said.
"The decision to defer measures of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act (EPSEN), has left school children with special needs without support when it is most crucial."
Mr Stanton told the conference that the about €70 million of the €900 million Multi-Annual Investment Programme 2006-2009 for disability services has been used by the HSE to cover over spending in other areas, and called on the Government to publish figures detailing where money has been allocated and spent.
"The money might be going in, but disability organisations tell me that this money is not appearing where it is needed," he said.
Party spokesman for older people Paul Connaughton accused the Government of an attack on older people through the decision to remove the automatic entitlement to a medical card for those over 70 in the Budget.
"The Government told us the Budget would be about everyone sharing the pain of the financial crisis that is largely of their own making. This isn't what happened though. Older people were targeted as a soft option to pay
for the Government's mistakes," he said.
"This will be remembered for years to come and it's an action that has made clear some home truths about Fianna Fáil to many people."
More than 1,000 activists attended the conference which opened yesterday evening in Wexford. Party leader Enda Kenny's address will be broadcast live on television tonight.