Fine Gael today vowed to transform the health service if elected to lead the country in the forthcoming election.
The party launched its FairCare health plan, setting out how it will abolish the Health Service Executive (HSE) by 2016 and introduce a Universal Health Insurance (UHI) system.
Dr James Reilly, deputy leader and health spokesman, said the simple message is the HSE is not working.
"In 2001 Micheal Martin, then Minister for Health, announced his intention to end waiting lists by 2004," he said.
"Both he and the HSE have spectacularly failed to meet this target. We recently witnessed 569 patients on trolleys in A&E and over 19,000 patients waiting more than three months for treatment.
"Fine Gael's FairCare will completely reform the health system." Dr Reilly maintained changes will be made in three key phases: :
2011-14: Waiting lists will slashed and a stronger primary care system built.
2014: Block grants paid to hospitals will be replaced by a system based on the numbers of patients they treat, increasing productivity by up to 10 per cent.
2016: A new UHI will be introduced to end the two tier system of care.
He continued: "Ireland will have one strong public health system where the State guarantees the level of service and quality while competing insurance companies will become responsible for much of its administration.
"Fairness and respect for employment conditions will be central to this transition and will be negotiated with unions."
However Fianna Fáil's Barry Andrews maintained the health plan was incoherent on every level.
"Their candidates are signing pledges in nearly every constituency promising to protect all existing HSE services and hospitals yet their proposal to privatise the funding of health would remove all guaranteed funding from these services," the outgoing Minister for State said.