Proposals for a shake-up of the health services, including a multi-million-pound plan to reduce hospital waiting lists, were outlined at a special Cabinet meeting yesterday.
The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, told colleagues at the special one-day Government strategy summit in Waterford that reducing waiting lists, increasing bed capacity in hospitals and improving services for older people were the cornerstone of Department attempts at improving the health services.
Ministers were also briefed yesterday on the state of the economy and on the dangers of it overheating.
Mr Martin said there were huge demands and pressures on the health services. It is understood he told Ministers that health boards around the State were currently putting together a £10 million wish-list of resources needed to reduce operating lists and to increase bed numbers.
More than 36,000 public patients are currently waiting for hospital surgery. The updated list, due to be published next week, will show little change in those figures.
The Cabinet meeting, in the Faithlegg House Hotel near Passage East, will continue this morning before Ministers return to Dublin for the first day of the new Dail term.
The Tanaiste, Ms Harney, said political parties should be required to make full disclosure of donations from the business community. But she joined the Taoiseach in rejecting the Labour Party's call for a complete ban on corporate donations.
"We don't think everybody should be penalised for the sins of a few," she said. She supported moves for all-party consensus on changes in funding the political system.
She said recent scandals had come to light not because donations to parties were abused but because of political corruption. A complete ban on corporate donations was not the answer.
"If there was such a ban in place, the PDs would never have started, because Des O'Malley or I would not have had the resources to do that," she said.
"I want to avoid a situation where the status quo in politics does not change."
She said it would be wrong to legislate to ban corporate donations, as this would favour the large parties and disadvantage the small groupings. Such legislation "would not make dishonest people honest".
However, she would be in favour of full disclosure by politicians of business donations. Those who accepted money should have nothing to hide.
Ms Harney said there was no evidence to date that any political parties had abused funds. What had emerged was that individual politicians took money for themselves.