Speech by Alex White TD, Labour Party Conference 2013,
Killarney, Saturday Nov. 20th 2013
Thanks very much Chair,
It is my great honour to introduce this morning’s session on health. As the Chairperson has said, the context is our party’s focus on fairness, equality and social justice.
Tomorrow evening, the Labour party in the Seanad will raise an issue that has been talked about ad nauseam in the House.
I refer to the future of the HSE. I invite all my colleagues on the opposite side of the House, who have expressed their frustration regarding the operations of the HSE on many occasions, to support the motion the Labour Party will be tabling.
I invite the Leader of the Seanad and the Deputy Leader not to put forward the usual amendment that is tabled in respect of such a motion and which essentially involves deleting everything after the term “Seanad Éireann” and replacing it with something anodyne. I call on them to genuinely support what we are proposing, namely, a serious set of reforms regarding the HSE.
The motion is not a personal attack on the Minister, the Government or anyone else, nor is it a retreading of old arguments; it is comprised of a positive set of proposals regarding how the HSE can be reformed. This issue has been raised on numerous occasions by Senators on the opposite side of the House and I invite them to support the Labour Party motion.
More :: The Seanad debate on the HSE will take place at 5 p.m. on Wednesday May 28. You can view the proceedings live by clicking here.
More :: You can read the wording of the Labour Private Members Motion by clicking here.
More :: Learn more about Labour’s plans for reforming the HSE by clicking here.
