Low satisfaction over health service - survey

The level of dissatisfaction with the health service among Irish people is among the highest in the European Union, a survey released today shows.

The study also says although the Irish fertility rate is the highest among all 15 EU member-states and Ireland has the youngest population, the population is aging more rapidly than any other country in the EU.

But Irish people have a higher life expectancy than most of their neighbours, according to the report, carried out by the European Foundation, the EU social research unit based in Loughlinstown, Co Dublin.

Despite the findings of discontent at the growing gap between rich and poor, job insecurity, fears over the digital divide and widespread mistrust of the social services, the survey shows 88 per cent of Irish people describe themselves as satisfied with their lives.

This is higher than the European average, with 83 per cent declaring themselves to be satisfied with their health, 77 per cent with their life in general, and 67 per cent with their income.

Health care remains a major priority for all respondents to the survey. It found that 47 per cent of Irish people are unhappy with health care provision. Only Greek, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian people are less satisfied.

Ireland performs the worst of all 15 states in terms of its "social protection expenditure", which includes the health service and social welfare payments. A mere 16 per cent of annual GDP is spent on social protection, about half of that in France or Denmark.

Moreover, although three-quarters of people trust the gardaí and half trust church figures, only one in five trust politicians, one-third trust the Government and a similar number trust big business.