Independent junior minister John Halligan has said that the HSE should be disbanded and independent international experts brought in to advise on how to run the health service.
Speaking on the Irish Times Inside Politics Podcast on Wednesday, Mr Halligan said that the health service is in “chaos” and that people were “suffering dreadfully”.
“I mean it’s chaotic,” Mr Halligan said. “It’s hard to believe that in 2016 you’d be still talking about waiting lists. People sitting on trolleys and so on . . . what the hell has gone wrong?
“I would disband the HSE completely, start afresh. You can’t do it now it would take a couple of years. I would bring in outside advisers from across the world and I would pay them. I would say, ‘Have a look at our health system for the last 20 years - why are we in chaos? How is it we are waiting two years for operations?”
Mr Halligan, who is a Minister of State at the Department of Jobs and Enterprise and also at the Department of Education, was severely critical of several aspects of the health service, as the numbers awaiting treatment in hospitals around the country continued to hit crisis levels.
“I would disband it completely. I think we’re dealing with about 11,000 managers - do we need 11,000 managers. We’re dealing with a load of unions. Do we need a load of unions?
“I would disband it, I would bring in - I think we should be man enough to say we can’t deal with it, our own civil service cannot deal with it, I think it’s impossible to deal with as we deal with it at present.”
“How is it that you have operating theatres all over the country closed at the weekends? Why can we not get consultants to work seven days a week? Why do we have doctors charging €55-€60 for a two minute visit?”
“We’re at a stage where we know that people are suffering dreadfully under the present health system . . . we need to change it.”
Mr Halligan also said that if a second catherisation laboratory is not provided in his constituency that it would cause him to reconsider his position in government. However, he insisted that this was an issue for the entire south-east region.
“This is critical meltdown here, people are actually dying - I cannot have this on my conscience,” he said. “I have to try to get something over the line on that.”
However, he suggested that a solution to the problem may be on the way.
“There’s a possibility of a mobile lab which the consultants would accept. I think it may very well come to that. I’d be happy with that.”
