Tonight's Prime Time was a damning inditement of the Celtic Tiger. A country with the wealth of Ireland cannot provide even a passable health service and tells people 'The richer you are, the more likely you are to survive a serious health problem'.

Taking so long to get smear tests back is an absolute disgrace.

Our two-tier health service is perhaps the government's biggest disgrace. And no, I'm not being political. Any government that allowed such a situation to develop in a decade of extreme wealth would deserve to be condemned. It is sickening.

I have long held the view that Harney's approach is all wrong. The sooner she is gotten out of the Department of Health, and someone who isn't trying to push a business ideology but the principle that every citizen has an equal right to access to health care, replaces her the better.

I had a serious health scare and had to be rushed to casualty a couple of times last year. Anyone who thinks we have an adequate health care is living in cloudcuckooland. At one time I was checked out in a cubicle in the Mater A&E surrounded by open buckets of paint, empty disinfectant containers, and a set of presses that looked likely to fall down if the sweeping brush leaning against them was removed. The staff were fantastic. But the A&E they had to work in was ********************e - cramped, dirty, third world. What the ******************** has Harney, and before her Cowen and Martin being done for the last 10 years? Is a crap health system all we have to show for ten years of the Celtic Tiger under their stewartship? It makes my blood boil.

Is it too much to ask that we get a decent health system and that people like the woman in the programme don't have to die because people who need medical treatment within 6 weeks have to wait 15 ******************************g months?

If I sound angry it is because that is how I feel. People have died not because of their illnesses but because of the state of the health service. And that is a disgrace.

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Nill illigitimi carborundum - don't let the b*stards get you down.

Economic Left/Right: -4.13
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.36

I thought it was unfair of Prime Time, when referring to amount of our GDP per capita spent on health relative to other EU states, to neglect to mention the role played in this by the fact that Germany and other EU states have a far older age-profile from Ireland. Personally I am opposed to a 2-tier health-service too. It's just that I would prefer to see it ended through universal private-health insurance rather than the TCD proposals to raise taxes by 6%.

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Visit http://www.sfhealthpolicy.com/ for some well thought through policies on health from Sinn Féin.

Sinn Féin is committed to ending the two tier health service, committed to excellent health care for all including the least well off and deprived.

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RIRA/CIRA not in my name "They are traitors to the island of Ireland” Martin McGuinness

"All people are entitled to full cultural and social equality" Mary Lou McDonald

"Republicans recognise that we have a journey to travel in developing our own understanding of unionism." Gerry Adams

This guy is like an automatd 24 hour party political broadcast from SF HQ

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Equality — It is new strung and shall be heard

Yeah, and you wonder why Sinn Fein popularity is rising?
Shame on you, Factual, Shame!

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The politics.ie definition of
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RIRA/CIRA not in my name "They are traitors to the island of Ireland” Martin McGuinness

"All people are entitled to full cultural and social equality" Mary Lou McDonald

"Republicans recognise that we have a journey to travel in developing our own understanding of unionism." Gerry Adams

As long as Health remains a local issue and not a national issue we'll never get up to speed.

How can we have a functioning and efficient health service if every decision about the health service is made on the basis of its electoral impact for FF/FG?

Everyone has a story about some Uncle or Aunt whose life was saved because a particular service was available at their local county hospital, but who speaks for the thousands of people who have died or remain ill because of the inefficiencies that inevitably arise out of having to configure an all encompassing health service in every county rather than 1 national health service?

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The only way to change the world is to win elections.

Why should rich f*ckers like me get free health care! We exploit people daily for our own benefit and should not receive any free allowances off the state. I should be forced to pay for my own health care like the dirty filthy exploiter of the working class that I am.

Under a universal healthcare deal i'd get free health care and that would be just wrong. I should have to pay for it.

Those who are not filthy, dirty people exploiters should not have to pay and should receive free health care.

Mary H received a health care system that was decrepit, failing and was run by a host of minor petty chieftains in the guise of consultants and pointless civil servants. Each had their own wee fiefdom and accused anyone who questioned why a remote sparsely populated rural area needed a hospital equipped to carry out operations that nobody in the area had ever required was deemed a fascist or some other nasty insult.

Mary H has brought focus and efficiency to the health service. No things are not perfect but they're a damn sight better than they were 2 years ago and now there is a coherent plan of action for the health service that it can follow to give Ireland the world class health service it deserves.

For some flagrant PD propaganda that sadly for you pinko's is all true CLICK HERE

Unlike most of you i've actually got work in the morning, so i'm off to bed.

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Freedom, Tolerance & Equality of Opportunity

Economic Left/Right: -1.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.33

Pussy.

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The only way to change the world is to win elections.

yet another catastrophic indictment of the government

that programme was so bad.......its hard to know where to start analysing it