OPPOSITION CAN TAKE MANY FORMS – there was opposition to the Water Charges, opposition to the 8th Amendment, and if the new government threatens austerity to sort out Covid costs, instead of putting a solidarity tax on the very rich, then we can muster opposition again – on the streets. This short clip is from The Week in Politics on Sunday.
Plans to provide insurance for bankers should not be paid for by taxpayers – Brid spells out the issues.
About 46,000 young children have complex needs, often relating to slower development of speech and language faculties. Yet the Irish health service does not make adequate provision for early intervention.
Councillor Brid Smith from People Before Profit said,
‘We come across many parents who are worried sick by the failure of the state to provide the necessary resources for early intervention. The waiting list for speech and language therapists is so long that parents are being forced to go private – at great cost to themselves.
‘International research suggests that the case load for a speech and language therapist should lie somewhere between 30 and 65 cases.
‘In Ireland, however, the case load of Speech and Language therapists is way more than double this ratio. It amounts to an average of 162 cases per therapist.
‘Like every other aspect of our health service this under-provision helps to support a two tier system. Worried parents will tend to go private rather than wait for months and years to obtain an evaluation.
‘The cost of these private sessions amount to about €50 for a 40 minute session or €100 for an hour.
‘A decent government would have doubled the number of speech and language therapists to cut waiting lists. They would make early evaluation and intervention a priority.
‘But this government cares more about the lifestyle of bondholders and bankers. That is why they sacrifice the most vulnerable on their altar of greed.’
Leo Varadkar’s comments about more hospital beds ‘slowing down’ hospitals shows why he should never be returned as a Health Minister.
Councillor Brid Smith, People Before Profit candidate, said,
‘Varadkar has let the PR mask slip and revealed his true philosophy. He wants to keep the public health system under pressure so that the staff are worked to the bone and there is a carry over trade for private hospitals.
Anti-Austerity Alliance – People Before Profit
COMMON PRINCIPLES:
Radical Alternatives & Real Equality
General Election 2016
Common Principles: Radical Alternatives & Real Equality
People Before Profit
Share the Wealth: An Alternative Vision for Ireland
Introduction
Our Priorities: A Summary
Arts – Childcare – Disability – Drugs – Economic Policy Summary – Education – Employment and Labour Rights – Environment – Foreign Policy Health – Housing – Irish Language – Land Use and Food – Law – LBGT Rights – Natural Resources – Political Reform
Racism – Water – Woman’s Right to Choose – Youth Equality
Introduction
By Richard Boyd Barrett
Despite government parties’ claims of economic recovery, Ireland remains a deeply unequal society. Government growth projections and claims of economic stability lack all credibility in the face of the evidence that another global economic down-turn is looming.
