If you were in charge of the 13 Billion windfall for Ireland what would you use it for?

We already overspend on healthcare.

The healthcare system is a joke. If you try get into a gp practice now it's near impossible.

Ironically that's the only fully privatised part of the health system…

I was down in my surgery earlier getting bloods done . Place was like a mini A&E…. It was ridiculous, as expressed in another thread, I arrived 5 minutes early, didn’t get a space in the waiting room, and I was 35 minutes from my appointment time, to walking in to the practitioner so 40 minutes from walking into the surgery to getting called, and this is the AM. The phlebotomist was an uncharacteristically cranky cûnt who got double annoyed when he realised that the notes on his PC didn’t have the correct information regarding how many blood draws to make….

my own belief is that they shouldn’t take on too many patients and they won’t be running around chasing their tail not knowing what’s what and asking people to sit on a wooden bench in a window with no back on it for any duration let alone 35 minutes, there were 3 of us sharing it not being able to access the waiting room…Not very professional, dignified, comfortable or acceptable… or safe if you had a movement disorder the thing was varnished and slippy as fûck with no rail to help you up..…

So whilst you can’t make GP’s appear, if you are determined to flood the country with new people to the extent that’s happened, is happening and will continue to, you best get about investing in people such as healthcare practitioners to assist and look after them and us. Both in hospitals and community facilities….either put up the resources .ie some of this €13 billion or shût up with this ‘ ohh yeah no limits’ irresponsible attitude and cheerleading.

Elderly local friend had the temerity to fall ill on a Friday evening. Got to wait in hospital until the doctor could see him on Monday. Fortunately, he didn't die. Don't know if he was on a trolley during this time, he's still in hospital after 2 weeks (yet another failing of the medical system keeping people in hospital way too long.)

There was something in the news about some slight movement to do 7 day week/8 hour day doctor coverage in some hospitals. Might happen. What a novel idea, how about 24x7 and pay for it by reduction in administrators?

New health centre opened in my area a couple of months ago which was badly needed. But when it opened they had no phone line or internet, so they were trying to manage appointments with a mobile phone and online forms and bookings with mobile data. Took a complaint to Comreg to get eir to finally put a fibre in (area was already fibre enabled so that wasn't the delay)

HSE won't take crutches back (we tried) because of liability issues. You can blame the ambulance chasers for that.

Springfield?

I'd be in favour of not just throwing it at the health system, I live in hope we could change the system and cut the fat and have a functioning health care system which would actually benefit from a huge lump loke 13 billion

The first thing I would do is re instate the full refund for those getting cataracts done in Northern Ireland . I know how absolutely vital this surgery is for people

Then pay surgeons to come in and pay private hospitals to rent their rooms to do surgery on children with scoliosis . I would pay a business man to organise and not some pen pushing clueless HSE employee

I would pay a competent and experienced business man to go in and organise the HSE and get rid of the useless and pointless middle layer .

Such an individual would have to be imported from outside Ireland and given huge authority. Never going to happen imo, especially given the pernicious influence of the RCC in so many hospitals - guarantee of less competent services.

This might be a very unpopular opinion. I would put the money away into an escrow account. There's a recession coming, I don't know when it's coming but it's definitely coming.

Put the €13bn away until then such that a government of the day won't need to impose austerity on their people

We haven't had a €13bn windfall in any of the last 13 budgets. Also do you really think FFG are looking to do anything other than buy votes from their banker and landlord buddies with the money?

I don't think 14bn is needed to fix our health provision. A little bit of political will and we might actually see better outcomes on the back of the health budget reducing

Better to spend it on the debt to the IMF, etc. 44bn and counting, and debt servicing is expensive. Precedent in 2017. Pay down by 4bn, easily knock off 10% of the remaining debt, lowering the debt servicing for the remaining 34bn and leave around 9bn for vote buying. Setting up 'funds' to be raided in the future is mad, lowering the debt improves credit rating, too (yeah, I know, more debt is the effect of that, but Ireland would control how that debt gets repaid rather than an external body.)

We were able to refinance most of our debt at near zero rates a few years back, so paying it off would be a waste of money.

No what will be a waste of money is allowing the current set of chancers we call our politicians pish it away on security huts and bike sheds. We should put it off our debt and when we have people in power who are truly and fully transparent about how our tax take is spent then they can spend the next windfall we get.

Its still a drop 13billion in the current gang of shysters pockest is likely to cost us more than the 13 billion there. They will end up giving it to friends and relatives via the OPW for projects that are not under any kind of realistic scrutiny. I have no bother with this money being spent but not with the current shower maybe slap it all in the rainy day fund that is getting interest and wait till we have a system that is truely transparent and where there is full accountability for waste