Delegate insists Cowen should resign

The conference demanded the resignation of the Minister for Health and Children, Mr Cowen, amid strong criticism of his record…

The conference demanded the resignation of the Minister for Health and Children, Mr Cowen, amid strong criticism of his record.

Mr Pat Carroll (Dublin West) said calls on ministers to resign at opposition conferences were two a penny, and he thought that Mr Cowen would not bat an eyelid to hear one coming from a Labour conference.

"But for all that, it is justifiable in this specific instance more than most. Mr Cowen, for all his public buffoonery, is a highly intelligent and in many ways a very compassionate politician. But despite the increased resources available to him, the health services under his watch are stretched to breaking point.

"You simply cannot have a civilised society when people are buying new cars and very expensive homes by the thousand and at the same time there are elderly patients waiting on trolleys for days for a hospital bed."

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Mr Carroll said that there was such a thing as society. "And we prove it through the resources and services we offer to the elderly and people with a disability. On this simple test, the Government has failed on every single count."

Ms Anne Ferris (Bray, Co Wicklow) said that when the British welfare state was introduced 50 years ago it was a radical and exciting initiative. "It provided over the following years a caring response to the health needs of British society which was the envy of the world. And rightly so. It is almost a cliche to say that the touchstone of a civilised society is how it cares for the weak, sick and elderly."

But the jewel that was the national health service had faded, and it would be an uphill battle to reconstruct it, she added. "At least the work has begun. Here in Ireland, we have only reached the starting gates in the race for a comprehensive national service."

Mr Eamonn Walsh (Dublin South West) said that there was no gynaecological service in Tallaght hospital to serve the large surrounding population. "There is no reason why the hospital cannot deliver the service. The person who can provide it is the Minister for Health." Lest the Minister did not know, he said he had discovered there had been power failures in the hospital.

Mr Joe O'Callaghan (Cork North Central) said the health services were in decline and staff morale was in crisis, as the public looked aghast at the inability of the Government to do anything about the ever-lengthening waiting lists.

"Ordinary people without private health insurance can be waiting for up to five years for major operations such as hip replacements. Today, in Cork city hospitals alone, there are 3,500 people in dire need of major surgery.

"Fianna Fail's past legacy in health was marked by hospital closures and massive lay-offs of staff. The health sector has not yet recovered from this. Fianna Fail has always rated healthcare as a medium priority, well below their concern for the livestock industry."

Urging the provision of better services for the elderly, Mr Sean Ryan TD (Dublin North) said that the party would launch a policy document later in the year. It would include a "social guarantee" for the elderly.

Replying to the debate, the party's health spokeswoman, Ms Liz McManus, said Labour had tabled a motion of no confidence in Mr Cowen last February. "We did so to keep faith with those who had been sold out and whose hopes were shattered by a Minister who has no interest in his job and even less commitment. We gave Brian Cowen a hard time then and I promise you we will continue to give him a hard time."

She said that in 1997, hospital waiting lists were below 30,000, but two years on the figure was almost 38,000. "Far from eliminating waiting lists of over 12 months, almost 800 are waiting for cardiac surgery alone for over a year."

The party's spokeswoman on children, Ms Roisin Shortall, called for the appointment of a senior minister for children and a constitutional amendment to provide for the rights of the child.

The party, she added, was also recommending that over the next three years child benefit should be increased to £25 a week for each child up to five years, and to £15 a week for those between five and 12 years. "This is the most effective anti-poverty measure available."