Tánaiste silent on Shortall criticisms

The Tánaiste has refused to be drawn on a controversial speech made by Minister of State for Health Roisin Shortall during a no confidence debate in Minister for Health James Reilly last night.

Ms Shortall voted confidence in Dr Reilly in a vote the Government comfortably won by 99 votes to 49.

But the Minister of State failed to mention her senior colleague in her four minute speech to the Dáil, during which she criticised the health service and the lack of funding for free GP care, a commitment contained in the Programme for Government.

In the Dáil this morning, Fianna Fáil’s Dara Calleary  highlighted Ms Shortall’s criticisms of the HSE and health service.

He asked the Tánaiste if he had discussed with Ms Shortall “what is very apparently a broken working relationship” with the Minister for Health.

He said after 18 months in office, Ms Shortall was still asking “very basic questions about what model universal health insurance will be based on”.

Mr Calleary said either no work had been done in the area, or the Minister was being excluded from any negotiations in the area.  He asked Mr Gilmore if he had had any discussions with his party colleague about her relationship with Dr Reilly or her concerns about the delays in her being given delegated powers.

The Tánaiste had been in the chamber for last night’s confidence motion and spoke in support of Dr Reilly and expressed confidence in him.  He told Mr Calleary this morning he had heard the “collective voice of this House which voted by a margin of two to one”, commending Dr Reilly.

Mr Gilmore said the Minister had done more in 18 months “than you did in 14 years when you were in charge of the Department of Health”.

The Tánaiste said the Government was approaching reform of the health service with urgency and impatience and “with less money and less staff than you had available to you”.

Mr Gilmore said he had held discussions with Ms Shortall and the Minister for Health at the relevant sub-committee meetings.

He insisted there was a strong team working in the Department of Health and said both Dr Reilly and Ms Shortall were committed to delivering a reformed and improved health service.

"We have a Government committed to introducing a system of universal health insurance with equal access to care for all and under that system there’ll be no discrimination between patients on the grounds of income or insurance status. And a two-tier system of unequal access to hospital care will end.”