Consultant practices were sharply criticised by Minister for Health Mary Harney during a health debate.
Ms Harney said that if a private patient arrived in a public hospital, the consultant received a fee, irrespective of what bed the patient was in. "I have described it before as akin to an airline where the pilots got paid for all the business class passengers, and, even if they sat in the economy seats, they got paid, too. It is a ludicrous situation."
She said they wanted to ensure that consultants worked 24/7, as part of a team and not as single operators. The health debate was not about the number of beds, she said. "It is about ensuring that we use whatever beds we have as effectively and efficiently as possible. The fact is that, in this country, people spend 50 per cent more time in an acute hospital bed for the top 20 procedures than they do in Australia, for example."
The Minister was speaking during a debate on an FG-Labour Private Member's motion demanding immediate planning for the provision of 2,300 beds in the hospital system.
The parties also demanded that Ms Harney abandon her plans to build private hospitals on public land.
Medical card coverage should be extended to 40 per cent of the population and the GP-only cards to all children under five years who were not covered by a medical card, they said.
Other demands included the introduction of health insurance for all children up to the age of 16 years, as well as making progress on the appointment of 1,500 new consultants, with a corresponding reduction in the number of junior doctors in general specialities.
Fine Gael health spokesman Dr Liam Twomey claimed the Government had no clear policies for the future of the health services.
"The Government is starting with a review of the number of beds needed in 13 years' time. I think, Minister, that shows the sort of crazy attitude you have towards the health services."
Labour spokeswoman Liz McManus said the Government had failed in the terms it had set for itself. "We, on this side of the House, have not failed. For the first time, in advance of a general election, two major political parties in Opposition have engaged in the preparation of a major health plan."
Defending the Government's record, Ms Harney outlined the progress made in the health services.
Earlier, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny challenged Taoiseach Bertie Ahern on the state of the health services. Mr Kenny accused him of reading out a list of facts and figures. "The Taoiseach has not addressed the human side of any aspect of this matter, bearing in mind that 40,000 operations are cancelled and 29,000 people are still on waiting lists."
Mr Kenny said that the Government had promised that programmes for breast and cervical screening would be extended nationally.
