Martin says higher taxes needed for better healthcare

The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, last night said Irish people will have to accept that higher taxes will be needed if the State’s health system is to keep pace with ailments presented by an ageing population in the next decade.

“Looking at the fact we are living longer as a people and that ageing is going to be the big story of the next 10 to 15 years in this country, we’ve got to realise that we’re going to have to devise ways of paying for that in the future,” he said on RTE’s Late Late Show.

However, the health care system would not be overhauled by investment alone. Instead “another way of doing things” was needed. Accident and emergency units in particular needed to be “reorganised” before any extra money was spent. “We need reform and investment. I would accept the point we need sustained investment into the future.” While Irish spending had increased in comparison with other European countries in recent years our health system needed “wiser investment”.

In the next four to six weeks, he, along with the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, would bring a “new design” for the health service to Government. Government would then consider the plan and unveil it.

“It’s going to create difficulties and challenges for a lot of people out there, a lot of people won’t like what they see perhaps, but there is an appetite for change. We need a new system to meet demands that simply were not there before.”