Strong opposition criticism of the health services was voiced during a debate on a Labour Private Member's motion.

The motion, which was discussed on Tuesday and last night, called for reduced hospital waiting lists, the provision of more hospital beds, and better facilities for children, the elderly and persons with mental disability.

The party's spokeswoman on health and children, Ms Roisin Shortall, said economic growth was not an end in itself and must lead to improved living standards and a better quality of life for citizens. Clearly that had not happened and nowhere was the division in Irish society more apparent than within the health system, she said. "How can we feel good about our booming economy when elderly parents must struggle with a mentally handicapped son or daughter because there are nothing like enough residential places? How can we feel good about our society when home help workers, who are vital to our health services, are being paid under £2 an hour?

Ms Shortall said the latest available figures showed numbers on waiting lists were now over 32,000. While this represented a fall from the 1993 high of 40,000, it also represented an increase of more than 6,000 from the 26,000 on the list under the last Government.

Up to 25 per cent of operations were being cancelled in some hospitals because of a shortage of beds. There were 969 adults waiting more than a year for cardiac surgery, while 883 faced a similar wait for plastic surgery. The vast majority of children were on waiting lists of over a year.

Mr Jimmy Deenihan (FG, Kerry North) referred to the case of a constituent suffering from leukaemia, who could not gain admission to Cork University Hospital for treatment because there was no bed available. He had to travel to St James's Hospital in Dublin, resulting in considerable stress and hardship for himself and his family.

"This is totally unacceptable in the present buoyant economic climate," Mr Deenihan added.

The Democratic Left spokeswoman on health, Ms Liz McManus, said people were on hospital waiting lists because they were poor. They were denied medical attention to the point where some of them died as a result of their poverty.

"It is deeply offensive to the general public that this situation is being maintained at a time of plenty," she added.

The Minister for Health, Mr Cowen, said it was almost inevitable the debate would concentrate on the deficiencies in the service.

"However, we should not dismiss our current level of achievement. A huge number of people benefit every year from the availability of quality health and personal social services. Shortages and deficiencies exist in most health services, many of which absorb much greater amounts of money than our own," he added.

He said the Government's health strategy was clearly thought out and it would be backed up by the necessary resources.

The Labour motion was defeated by 63 votes to 55.