Labour leader Pat Rabbitte has pledged that his party would cancel the plans for private hospitals on public land and instruct the HSE to identify locations for additional hospital beds during its first 100 days if elected to office.
He said the building of private hospitals in the grounds of public hospitals was now running into opposition from people in the medical profession and possibly in the HSE as well as from the Opposition parties.
"We are going to stop the Government's plan to build private hospitals. That is a decision to stop the aggravation of the two-tier health service that we have already," said Mr Rabbitte, who said the plan was so flawed that not one contract had yet been signed.
"On top of that there are issues such as the need to ramp up community policing to deal with antisocial behaviour and crime. Although the civilianisation programme is there, 565 gardaí are doing clerical and administrative tasks that might be put out into the community in terms of community policing."
He said another priority would be finding the extra buses required, particularly in Dublin.
"We have quality bus corridors but no buses to put on them. What is necessary is to give the order to Dublin Bus that they may start to call down the 450 buses they say are necessary to move people across this city.
"What are required are decisions, and we have indicated what decisions we will take," said the Labour leader.
He said that within 100 days in office, Labour would implement the following:
1. Cancel all plans for super-private clinics;
2. Instruct the HSE to identify locations for additional hospital beds;
3. Appoint a director to roll out a programme to deliver pre-school education based in the office of the Minister for Children;
4. Instruct the Garda Commissioner to implement the civilianisation programme and begin deployment of 1,000 additional community gardaí;
5. Make a government decision that the means test for carers would be abolished in the first budget and Social Welfare Bill;
6. Instruct the National Treasury Management Agency to establish a fund for the "Begin to Buy Scheme".
7. Create a Department of Energy, Climate Change and the Environment.
8. Publish a Bill to set the 0.7 per cent of GNP Overseas Development Aid target in law;
9. Instruct Dublin Bus to order a first tranche of new buses;
10. Double capitation fees for primary schools for the 2007/2008 school year.
