I think that Health is one of the sacred areas where housekeeping issues should be tackled, however services and general provision of services should be invested in. What use would a country of sick people be?

Where would revenue come from?

Who would run the country and I don't mean the clowns in the Dail!

Any excuse. Close all the hospitals and we might run a surplus next year !!!!

If you feel you are unwell, book a holiday get treated in a different country !! Atleast you will get the best of both, But if you are rich, support those private hospitals, Whose life is it anyways?

I know that there is a world recession, even Dubai is beginning to feel the pinch I am reliably informed. I however am only interested in our country, Ireland and her people.

I am going to put this question to you the readers yet again, If we hadn't opened our doors to non-EU citizens, our hospitals would be less full, our own people who need houses would have shelter. Think of this country as an Elevator, the elevator holds 8/10 people, we left the door open and it filled, pretty soon this Elevator/Country is going to break down what then?

If the US had not opened its doors to our citizens many years ago this may be a poorer country now - and so may be the United States. We have short memories! The influx of foreigners will only enrich our culture.

We can only afford the health service that we can afford.

Whitofire - Your last statement is senseless. The HSE are getting sufficient funding to provide a world class service but because of the way it is constituted and managed they are unable to make good use of the money they get. However it will never change until the mind-set changes and I refer to the idea of employing three new Directors on a basic salary of 194,000 euro each at the same time as they announce the need to save 900 million euro in 2009. What kind of a detached mind comes up with this bright spark? What in heaven's name are the 400 employees in the Department of health doing or have they no one with talent there?

You state that my statement “We can only afford the health service that we can afford” (a truism) is senseless then go on to prove that we cannot afford the health service that we have. Maybe that makes sense to you!

Witofire, We joined the EU and we got the money we built the roads the M50 (we are still trying to get it right) but we forgot that our legal EU neighbours may need our hospital beds and our Doctors, that was our Governments fault.

However, when we allowed so many other Nationalities in what were we thinking about. I can understand filling the "empty places" but piling one on top of the other, now that is senseless.

If you want a Doctor in the States you will pay over $200 a visit, I required the services of a Doctor first thing they asked have you got insurance and my niece who is now an American Citizen told her I was on holiday, no good I had to pay and my niece pays the same she said the annual insurance is very high and they are in good health so they decided to pay for Doctor if they need one instead of paying for insurance they may not use. Getting back to the subject in question, if a non national needs a Doctor here they just go into our A&E, thereby clogging up the system, if they paid a GP like we have to then the A&E would be there for us all.

Anonymous,

I cannot understand how someone who could afford to go on holiday to the United States could not afford medical insurance. My son who is a US citizen tells me that it is essential to have health insurance there for the very reasons you outline. When I visited there I was fully covered by VHI and travel insurance and considered the cost well worth it for the peace of mind. Deciding not to take out health insurance because one is in good health is preposterous.

I will have to take your word on non-nationals' use of A&E as I am not aware of the facts pertaining to that.

I believe that if those who can afford it avail of health insurance that too would would ease the health service.

Health is one of the most importent and sacred areas. Economic problems must not hinder heath care.

The services will be cut back (one way or the other usually it will be a sneaky way that people will not notice). This may seem like a bad thing but because 8 years ago I did not have any insurance to pay for drugs etc. I switched to alternative medicine and cured the root cause of most of my problems - I will still go to GP for a few tests but no way will I take statins etc. to control cholestrol etc. as I can do it quite well with other safe means. Ineed all you have to do is look at the places where they give lots of drugs to people feeely - the people do not get better in fact they mostly let worse. Yes of course I will go to a hospital if I get a heart attack etc BUT the big issue I am aware of is how to saftely avoid the heart attack in the first place. So these cut backs will maybe (I hope) force the people & government (and I hope at least some doctors) to look at other solutions that what big pharma has to offer.

Joe L,

Your posting is not directed at the case in point, all you are doing is telling us how healthy you are and we should all use another form of medicine which also costs money.  You are very lucky indeed to have good health and I wish you continued good fortune.  For people who are on many different types of medication all you are actually doing is "change your brand" that is not going to help the likes of me in what this site is about "The Economic Downturn".

Maybe at another time say 20 years ago alternative/complimentary medicine may have been to way to go, but now all I would be doing is handing out money that I do not have to be prescribed medicines that would be hit and miss to a Practitioner who does not know me or my body and its back to dealing with the Economic Downturn, over to you.

Anne