News

The Dáil will debate a Social Democrats’ motion on Wednesday (February 25) aimed at addressing the crisis in GP care in Ireland. The party’s 20-point plan sets out a number of key measures to improve access, remove costs and increase capacity when it comes to general practitioner care in Ireland. These include: Introducing free GP […]

It is an abdication of duty for the government to ignore glaring holes in dental care legislation which put the public in danger, according to Social Democrats health spokesperson Pádraig Rice. Deputy Rice said: “Today’s news that the Dental Council, the statutory regulatory body for dentistry in Ireland, was unable to act in 80% of […]

The government’s decision to scrap plans for an elective-only hospital in Galway must be reversed, according to Social Democrats health spokesperson Pádraig Rice. Deputy Rice said: “In 2021, the government committed to building elective-only hospitals in Galway, Cork and Dublin to support the separation of scheduled and unscheduled care. These facilities are needed to ensure […]

Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns has called on the Taoiseach to urgently clarify if it is still official government policy to co-locate the Rotunda with Connolly Hospital, as envisaged in the 2016 National Maternity Strategy. Deputy Cairns said: “A €100 million critical care unit at the Rotunda Hospital was supposed to be a gamechanger for […]

The Minister for Health must explain why she did not intervene sooner and publicly state that plans to locate the Rotunda Hospital with Connolly in Blanchardstown had effectively been abandoned by the government, according to Social Democrats TD Pádraig Rice. Deputy Rice, who is the party’s health spokesperson, made his comments after An Comisiún Pleanála […]

The continued placement of younger disabled people in nursing homes represents a serious human rights failure and shows that the State has moved far too slowly to implement the recommendations of the Ombudsman’s ‘Wasted Lives’ report, according to Social Democrats TD Liam Quaide. Deputy Quaide, who is the party’s disability spokesperson, made his comments after […]

Social Democrats mental health and disability spokesperson Liam Quaide has challenged Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill for refusing to commit to baseline staffing targets and recruitment within primary care services for young people. Deputy Quaide, who brought to light the extent of waiting-lists across disciplines and health regions through a series of parliamentary questions, […]

The government must take control of the disastrous delivery of the National Children’s Hospital by issuing legal proceedings against BAM, according to Social Democrats health spokesperson Pádraig Rice. Deputy Rice, who chairs the Oireachtas health committee, said: “At today’s sitting of the health committee, Minister Carroll MacNeill said that she would not adopt a similar […]

The Minister for Health’s new Waiting List Action Plan lacks any credibility after the failure of her last plan, according to Social Democrats health spokesperson Pádraig Rice TD. Deputy Rice said: “A radically different approach to the one set out today, one which is in line with the reforms set out in Sláintecare, is the […]

Multiple HR and ICT deficiencies identified during a Medical Council inspection of CHI sites underpin the need for the new National Children’s Hospital to open without further delay, according to Social Democrats health spokesperson Pádraig Rice. Deputy Rice said: “Today’s report highlights a number of concerning issues at CHI hospitals, where creaking ICT systems were […]