Sir, – Further to "Government drops original plan for universal health insurance" (November 17th), did anyone really believe that Fine Gael would keep a promise to deliver a health service that all could access based only on need and not the depths of their pockets?
Maybe many believed because they desperately wanted to believe.
Here’s hoping we are all a little wiser. – Yours, etc,
JIM O’SULLIVAN,
Rathedmond,
Sligo.
Sir, – The news that the universal health insurance (UHI) system has been abandoned for reasons of expense will surprise nobody.
When Ireland couldn’t afford a one-tier health service during the boom years it was not going to afford it in the post-IMF/EU bailout era. It was always a non-runner.
What is surprising and disappointing is that the decision took so long. How many hours have been spent and how much expense has been incurred by the Department of Health in studying and planning UHI? This money, time and effort could have been used to plan service improvements that were feasible.
Should heads roll in the Department of Health? – Yours, etc,
SEAN O’SULLIVAN,
Crossabeg,
Wexford.
Sir, – My sympathies to your gallant reporters and columnists who have spilled so much ink over the years explaining what universal insurance was, how it works in other jurisdictions, how much it would cost here and how it would be implemented.
They might perhaps have been better employed pondering the difference between a manifesto “commitment” and an election “pledge”. – Yours, etc,
PATRICIA O’REILLY,
Dublin 8.