LAST UPDATE | 29 Oct 2024

SINN FÉIN’S HEALTHCARE plan includes a measure to provide free prescription medicines and the hiring of an additional 40,000 staff into the health service.

The 120 page healthcare plan, which Sinn Féin pledges to enact should the party be elected to government in the upcoming election, contains around 350 measures. 

Speaking at the launch today, Sinn Féin’s health spokesperson described the plan as the “most comprehensive plan ever produced by any political party”.

Cullinane said the plan reflects 150 meetings he has personally had which included “thousands of people” such as patients, children waiting for care and their families, healthcare professionals, health experts, and healthcare trade unions.

“We have five first 100 day commitments, which actually sets out the tone of what a Sinn Féin government would do from day one,” Cullinane said. 

“From the minute, if we got the chance to be in government, we will roll up our sleeves and we’re ready to deliver health and housing and childcare and all of these issues, and that’s what this plan is about.”

David Cullinane, Mary Lou McDonald and Pearse Doherty at today's launch RollingNews.ie RollingNews.ie

It’s five first 100 day commitments are as followed: 

1. Legislate for free prescription medicines for all and the biggest expansion of medical cards in decades.
2. Start negotiations for a public GP contract
3. Publish a revised health plan for 5,000 hospital beds out to 2031
4. Task HIQA to recommend a location for a second emergency department in the Midwest
5. Establish a rural health commission to develop a 10-year rural health strategy.

“Most European countries have public GPs. Ireland is an outlier, and we want to make sure that changes to give GPs a choice,” Cullinane said.

The plan includes a measure to employ 250 GPs on public contracts.

Cullinane said he hopes there would be more GPs due to a measure like this.

“At the moment, GPs who are training have one option, and that’s independent practice,” said Cullinane.

“We will negotiate with the Irish College of General Practitioners to make sure that that contract is fit for purpose, and that would mean that we can recruit 250 salaried GPs to come and work in the public space.”

He added: “Our plan will give young trainees a choice: if you want independent practice, we will support you, but if you want to work as a public GP, we will do that.”

Cullinane also said that having “public GPs on public contracts” will make it easier to fill GP posts in rural Ireland.

“We have children with scoliosis and spina bifida who are waiting years for surgeries,” Cullinane told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland programme earlier today.

At the launch of Sinn Féin’s election healthcare policy launch.

SF’s Health spokesperson David Cullinane has pledged that a SF government would do everything in its power to get children in need of spinal surgery the care they need.

“We will fund it and we will make it happen.” pic.twitter.com/IvSSRh8a7j

— Jane Matthews (@janeematthews) October 29, 2024

“We have children who struggle with mental health, who can’t get access to services.

“What does our plan do? It puts 5,000 hospital beds into the system, 2,400 community beds into the system. It will transform how we deliver children and youth mental health.”

He added that Sinn Féin’s plan “ensures that if you want to see a GP, you can see a GP on time, you can see a dentist on time”.

Cullinane also remarked that “people won’t have to wait, like one million people do on a health waiting list, because this government doesn’t have the plan that we have produced.”

The plans would include spending over €5.4 billion on new health and social care measures, as well as investing over €15 billion in capital projects as part of a five-year strategy.

In terms of capital projects, Sinn Féin’s finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty said today that €2bn of the Apple Tax money will be used to increase the number of beds across Irish hospitals.

Cullinane said this level of spending is “realistic and can be delivered”.

He added that there are “huge budget surpluses” and said: “The Department of Finance has outlined, even if we have expansion and budgetary spend of tens of billions of euros over the next five years, we will still run budget surpluses”.

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin said there will be “savings built into” the healthcare plan.

“We will save €1 billion a minimum in relation to agency spend, management consultancy, in relation to outsourcing of care,” said Cullinane.

When asked how commitments on 40,000 additional staff would be met, Cullinane referenced the HSE recruitment embargo, which was lifted in July.

The embargo included all categories of staff, with the exception of consultants, doctors in training and nurses and midwives who graduated last year.

“I want those who have left to come home,” said Cullinane.

“Those who are training at the moment, we’re proposing a bursary for first, second and third years of €3,000 and saying to them, ‘we will give you a job guarantee to come and work in the public system’.”

The party has also pledged to abolish hospital parking charges, and increase GP training contracts by 60%, equating to 210 places additional places.

Includes reporting from Jane Matthews