UNITED LEFT ALLIANCE:THE UNITED Left Alliance has criticised Fine Gael's health policy as a "cynical exercise in deception". Conor Mac Liam, health campaigner and Socialist Party/ ULA candidate for Carlow-Kilkenny, said Fine Gael's response to the "disaster of a hybrid healthcare system is to go the whole hog with privatisation".
Mr Mac Liam is the husband of Susie Long, who died of bowel cancer in 2007 after waiting seven months for hospital tests.
Fine Gael has said its plan will eliminate waiting lists and replace the public-private two-tier system with a universal health insurance system based on the Dutch model.
“People are desperate for a system that is affordable and reliable. I am horrified at Fine Gael’s attempt to turn the healthcare crisis into an opportunity to line the pockets of private healthcare companies,” Mr Mac Liam said.
“The Dutch system is a two-tier system,” he added.