ONE of the first verbal spats of the general election campaign has broken out between Sin Fein candidate Cllr Pat Day and Fine Gael’s Cllr Mike Kennelly over a suggestion that the health service could be privatised.
Cllr Kennelly said it is clear that the current health service is not working and a whole new plan is required.
He said the HSE should be given two years to get its act together on issues like the trolley crisis and long waiting lists and, if that fails, consideration should be given the privatisating the service.
“It would be the last straw but it has been a problem for the last 20 years and the best politicians in Ireland couldn’t reform it adequately,” Cllr Kennelly said.
But Cllr Pa Daly said the privatisation call proves that the main government party can’t be trusted on the issue.
“The comments by Mike Kennelly reflected a very prevalent view within the Fine Gael party and, whilst I fundamentally disagree with his proposals, I welcome the fact that Mike has come clean on his party’s intentions for our health system,” he said.
Cllr Daly said privatisation would lead the Irish health service towards an American model where the less well-off struggle to meet health care costs.
“The people of Kerry and indeed Ireland are already struggling to make ends meet,” he added.
The Tralee solicitor said Sinn Fein’s vision is to establish a modern, world-class universal health system that is free at the point of use and available to everyone, when they need it.
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