Ahern defends handling of health services

The Government's handling of the health service, which will be one of the central issues in the next general election, has been strongly defended by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern.

Clearly conscious of the Opposition's focus on the issue, Mr Ahern told Fianna Fail activists on Saturday that health spending had doubled during the lifetime of the Government.

"The challenge now is to make this money work alongside fundamental reform to deliver the quality healthcare we need," he told a party gathering in his Dublin Central constituency.

Asking voters for patience, Mr Ahern said the service was being reformed from the ground up. "Other parties like to pretend that there is an easy remedy for even the most complex problems," he said.

Despite the £5 billion annual spend, operation waiting lists have begun to rise again, while gaps in the country's cancer-care services were exposed in an all-Ireland survey last week.

Mr Ahern said the new health strategy of the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, would mark a dramatic shift and would lay out a plan to increase the number of hospital beds and cut operation queues.

"Years of neglect and underinvestment cannot be put right overnight. The Irish people know that better hospitals and public transport, new roads, greater prosperity and a better quality of life take time to deliver," the Taoiseach said.

He again insisted he would not call a general election this year. "Speculation is part and parcel of politics. But I think that I have been consistently clear on this.

"I am determined to lead this party into another successful election campaign in the year 2002. I intend to serve another term as Taoiseach. This Government has achieved much but there are still many things I want to do before I go to the country. I detect no public desire for an early general election," he said.

Last night the Labour Party leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, said Mr Ahern's speech showed he was "astonishingly out of touch".

"Even now he cannot recognise that his Government has wasted four years of economic prosperity. All our major public services are now in a worse position than when he came to office.

"The flagging health service, our underfunded education system, the housing crisis, the crisis in the private rented sector, planning and traffic problems are all the hallmarks of his administration," Mr Quinn said.